Karen Blixen - Isak Dinesen home

| Coulsong

Question 10: Did Isak Dinesen write a story about "...a woman called Shirley who spoke perfect Chinese?"

Q. In the movie, "Out of Africa," Karen Blixen is asked by Denys Finch-Hatton and Barkley Cole to tell a story. She starts to tell a story about a woman who "... spoke perfect Chinese, which she had learned from her missionary parents." I have looked through the Isak Dinessen literature available in American bookstores and libraries, but I have never been able to find this particular story. Did Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen actually write this story, or were these few lines simply fabricated for the screenplay? If she did write it, what is the name of this story?

A. The lines were fabricated for the movie. The screenwriter followed her life to some extent but used almost none of her own words except "I had a farm in Africa."