Customer Reviews

The Best Women's Travel Writing 2009: True Stories from Around the World

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Many of women travel books state that the writing are humorous, but the stories aren't funny. Others have women lamenting over how she looks in a bathing suit or a romantic breakup, neither of which has anything to do with the place they're visiting or the people they meet. Thankfully this book only has one story that fit the second fault stated above. It's "Homecoming Istanbul" by Banu Francoise Hummel.

The other essays are wonderfully descriptive and expressive stories of each woman's interactions with the people, cities, countries, and sites. I got a sense of the sensations and experiences that the writers were trying to convey.

I felt the sogginess, sexiness and coldness of the rains in France, Mexico and Scotland; the gritty sand in the Taklamakan desert; again coldness in Italy; fear in the Amazon and Botswana; and learned that there are many different types of trips in Jamaica.

Each story was so delightful (except the one written in Turkey) that I couldn't wait to read the next one. These stories inspired me to want to go to places I never considered before, which a true travel book should instill in it's readers.

Great job to all the essayists and the editor, Lucy McCauley.

This outstanding collection of travel experiences offers a solid travel literature piece of true stories from women around the world, and makes for a 'must' pick for any library catering to travelers or including women's issues in the mix. A country-by-country chapter listing makes it easy to locate experiences specific to different nations and lends to the browsing interest of an outstanding literary collection of experiences.