In the Shadow of Islam - Softcover

Eberhardt, Isabelle; Bangert, Sharon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0720608953 ISBN 13: 9780720608953

Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers, 1994

Synopsis

In 1897 Isabelle Eberhardt, aged 20, left an unconventional life in Geneva for Kenadsa, at the Moroccan frontier. Gripped by spiritual restlessness and a desire to transcend boundaries she travelled into the desert, into the heart of Islam.

About this title

Review

'Cultdom can imply a a blind suspension of critical faculties, and Isabelle has suffered from that. A hazy image of her as a soul-sick Amazon-of-the-desert has been recycled as each new generation discovers radical desert chic. Yet her writings, and her sheer modernity, stand up to modern scrutiny... Not only only have the stories she collected become invaluable oral history for the North Africans, but her perception of Islam as a future, and not a spent, force on the world stage has proved prophetic. In that, as in the rebel-without-a-cause about her, she has proved ahead of her time.' - DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A compelling narrative and an ideal starting point from which to discover more about Isabelle Eberhardt's picaresque life.' - Nicola Walker, TLS 'She [Eberhardt] was the first hippie. She travelled with no money living from day to day; she had no concept that chastity was of any value and was sexually voracious; she was into kif-smoking; and she lived in Morocco dressed as a man.' - Juliet Stevenson

About the Author

ISABELLE EBERHARDT was born in Geneva in 1877, the illegitimate daughter of a Russian Orthodox priest and part-Russian, part-German aristocrat. She spent much of her short adult life in north Africa where she converted to Islam. She was killed in a flash flood at the age of 27.

Edition details

• Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0720608953
• ISBN 13: 9780720608953
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 144