Once again I am reporting on a great book. I reread the book “The Women I think about at Night, Traveling the paths of my heroes” by Mia Kankimaki. The book is translated from Finnish. Mia says she has “night women,” they are the women she loves to read about, thinks about, is inspired by. She calls them “night women” because she thinks about them at night, when she is unable to sleep.
Who are her “night women?” They are adventurous ladies who explored, wrote, and lived unconventional lives in a time when women were not supposed to be doing such things. The first half of the book follows Karen Blixen, of Out of Africa fame. When reading the book Out of Africa, Karen comes across as a strong woman, someone we could idolize but not someone most of us could imitate. She runs a coffee farm alone, shoots lions, cures diseases and cares for all her employees as judge and doctor. But, when Mia researches, reads her letters and really analyzes her life she finds a sometimes neurotic, often sick, worried woman who struggles the same as everyone else. Even more exciting to me, Mia goes to Africa and lives with a local family for several months. She goes on safari adventures, faces her fears and deals with the discomfort of the life there. She is extremely open about her own fears and neuroses, which to me make the book better. I can imagine me doing the same things she is doing. She doesn’t paint a picture of herself as this grand adventurer, she paints a realistic picture of a woman who has doubts, and yet goes out and has the adventures. Some of my take aways from the Africa section are as follows. Lions roar in a low threshold hard to describe or record. The darkness at night is just that, deeply truly dark. She explored Tanzania and Kenya, which can be hot, dry, buggy, full of wildlife that wants to kill you, and still, also, just a place to live. The people of Tanzania care about the land they live on, and the wildlife that is there. Life is hard, but not impossible, friendships and family are what matters, not so much whether the electricity or water is working all the time.
A friend recently went to the same locations Mia writes about. He took a commercial safari, and stayed in a luxury hotel. They road out into the Park and saw elephants, lions, wildebeests, hippos and tons of birds and prey animals. He never mentioned how dark it gets at night. He never did without electricity or hot water. He loved the sunsets and sunrises, and the landscape left him in deep awe. On the Safari he saw many people in other tour groups, and even a couple walking outside of the safe cars. Mia writes about seeing no one, and standing on a dirt road and being able to look for miles in any direction without seeing another person except her guide. I want to go there, but I want Mia’s experience. Or maybe I want Karen’s experience. At least I have the book.
Mia writes about Nelly Bly, another woman I admire. I have read several books about her, each one including this one making me want to only learn more. Nelly was an investigative journailst, putting herself in danger to get the stories she wanted. Thanks to her, the world learned about how dangerous mental institutions were, especially for women. Nelly also circled the globe in less than 80 days, carrying a single handbag for her luggage. Mia writes about Isabella Bird, Ida Pheiffer, and of other ladies I have not heard of before this book. Each one managed to travel to far off lands and live the lives they wanted, at least while on their travels. She writes about woman Renaissance painters, women working in a time when their only purpose was to marry and produce offspring.
I think the reason I enjoy this book so much is I get the feeling of traveling with Mia, while learning about these ladies of the past. A travel story with a lesson, presented in such an interesting way. The last section of the book is the story of Mia trying to write the book, kind of a story of the writing of the story as I am reading the story. Although it is strange to read about the difficulties of writing the book I am reading, it gave me courage to perhaps try to write myself. I suffer from all the doubts and fears, I get headaches and tired, I want to travel and tell stories about what I have learned. Just like the author shows there was more to Karen Blixen, the soft nervous side, she also shows her own version as well.
Who are my night women? I think Mia herself would be one. I have always loved reading about Amelia Earhart, Anne Lindbergh, and Beryl Markham. I’ve always been drawn to Laura Ingalls, and Helen Keller, and of course to her teacher, Anne Sullivan. I like people that go out and explore the world, but I also respect those who can write and share in their adventures. I like women who write well, who share their philosophies of life, and in sharing make me think harder about my own worldview. To be a night woman, she needs to think, write, adventure, and create. She does not need to see herself as strong or brave, she just needs to get out and do.
