Out of Africa

<p>ISAK DINESEN was the pen-name of Karen Blixen who was born in Rungsted Denmark in 1885. After studying art at Copenhagen Paris and Rome she married her cousin Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke in 1914. Together they went to Kenya to manage a coffee plantation. After their divorce in 1921 she continued to run the plantation until a collapse in the coffee market forced her back to Denmark in 1931. <br><br>Although she had written occasional contributions to Danish periodicals since 1905 (under the <i>nom de plume</i> of Osceola) her real début took place in 1934 with the publication of <i>Seven Gothic Tales</i> written in English under her pen-name. <i>Out of Africa</i> (1937) is an autobiographical account of the years she spent in Kenya. Most of her subsequent books were published in English and Danish simultaneously including <i>Winter's Tales</i> (1942) and <i>The Angelic Avengers</i> (1946) under the name of Pierre Andrézol. Among her other collections of stories are <i>Last Tales</i> (1957) <i>Anecdotes of Destiny</i> (1958) <i>Shadows on the Grass</i> (1960) and <i>Ehrengard</i> (1963). All of these books are published by Penguin. <br><br>Baroness Blixen died in Rungsted in 1962.</p> Compelling...a story of passion...and a movingly poetic tribute to a lost land <p>In 1914 Karen Blixen arrived in Kenya with her husband to run a coffee farm. Instantly drawn to the land she spent her happiest years there until the plantation failed. Karen Blixen was forced to return to Denmark in 1931 and it was there that she wrote this classic account of her experiences. A poignant farewell to her beloved farm <i>Out of Africa </i>describes her strong friendships with the people of her area her affection for the landscape and animals and great love for the adventurer Denys Finch-Hatton.<br><br>Written with astonishing clarity and an unsentimental intelligence <i>Out of Africa </i>portrays a way of life that has disappeared for ever.</p> <p>In 1914 Karen Blixen arrived in Kenya with her husband to run a coffee farm. Instantly drawn to the land she spent her happiest years there until the plantation failed. Karen Blixen was forced to return to Denmark in 1931 and it was there that she wrote this classic account of her experiences. A poignant farewell to her beloved farm <i>Out of Africa </i>describes her strong friendships with the people of her area her affection for the landscape and animals and great love for the adventurer Denys Finch-Hatton.<br><br>Written with astonishing clarity and an unsentimental intelligence <i>Out of Africa </i>portrays a way of life that has disappeared for ever.</p>