My Love Affair with England: A Traveler's Memoir - Softcover

Toth, Susan Allen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345385659 ISBN 13: 9780345385659

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1994

Synopsis

Journalist and memoirist Susan Allen Toth brings her special England vivdly to life as she recalls her many trips there over the years, where she explored the countryside, traveled both second-class and in luxury, theatre-hopped, hunted for ghosts, and honeymooned. Humorous, bittersweet, and wonderfully eccentric, this is a delightful remembrance to be savored by those who love to travel or just dream of it.
"I love MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ENGLAND. It is written clearly and with a understanding that far supasses any feeling of condescension or superiority or general quaintness among the natives, all of which I detect in books about other countries."
M.F.K. Fisher

About this title

About the Author

Susan Allen Toth is currently a professor of English at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

From Publishers Weekly

Toth ( Blooming ) makes no apologies here for her lack of authority about English history or current affairs; she is not ashamed to admit that she has ventured little beyond literary London and England's most picturesque locales; and she disdains what she calls the "Bleak Chic"11 school of British travel writing. But then, this is not a travel memoir in the modern sense, fashioned for hardened realists. Without a trace of irony, Toth writes of the "lure of England's many-layered past"23 and the reverence felt by every English major, present or former, when walking down streets well known to Dickens. She is spot-on in explaining why English marmalade tastes good only when eaten as part of a real English breakfast--"the tangy flavor puts just the right edge on a slathery, swimming-in-fat breakfast of bacon, sausage and fried eggs."73 Toth's descriptive powers and her almost Victorian sense of sentiment occasionally wear thin, especially in the sections where she deals with her recent visits. But she is in top form when she recounts her travels as a Smith student in 1960 and 10 years later as a harried guide for touring students. At these and many other points, the book feels wonderfully cozy--the print equivalent of a nice cup of tea.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0345385659
• ISBN 13: 9780345385659
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320