Out of Isak Dinesen
Karen Blixen's untold story
by Linda G.Donelson
Reviews

Helen
Yglesias,
The Women's Review of Books
January
Magazine
- Publishers Weekly, April 10, 1995 : One of the
more
intriguing
adventures undertaken by a 20th-century woman. Donelson's
well-researched
biography of Blixen's years in Kenya is an absorbing read that will
grab
readers whether or not they are familiar with "Out of Africa".
Donelson's
depiction of Blixen is decidedly less romantic than Blixen's own but no
less intriguing for that...Donelson, who spent years living in the
Ngong
Hills of Kenya, re-creates colonial Africa's physical, political and
social
milieu in remarkable detail. Intelligently and skillfully organized,
the
book offers a sympathetic yet candid portrait of Blixen and her complex
relationships with her husband and with her lover, Denys Finch Hatton
- Library Journal: Donelson, a physician who has lived in
the
Ngong
Hills in Africa where Dinesen farmed from 1914 to 1931, closely
chronicles
the now-legendary African years of Karen Dinesen, Baroness Blixen, with
a new slant. Using Dinesen's written descriptions of her symptoms and
the
work of other physicians who have written on her lifelong illness,
Donelson
concludes that the illness that crippled and ultimately killed her was
not syphilis but arsenic poisoning, caused by tonics she frequently
took.
Medically, the theory is ingenious...
- Kirkus, August 1998: Donelson has committed herself to
separating
the facts of Blixen's life from her self-created myth. The result is a
book that traces the transformation of an unassuming young grand dame
of
the veldt (Blixen went to Africa in 1914, when she was 28). In the
course
of her narrative, Donelson, an M.D., succeeds in debunking with
alacrity
and insight some of the commonly held assumptions about Blixen's
medical
history. She doubts, for example, that Blixen's later physical ailments
were the result of syphilis (contracted from her husband during their
first
year of marriage). More likely, they were caused by the arsenic she
took
for years as a tonic. The discussions of Blixen's physical state and
frequent
bouts of depression are concrete and convincing....The biography brings
to light a wealth of detail about her African experiences
- John Coyne, RPCV Writers & Readers, November 1995
Donelson
has
written a fascinating biography, a true picture of Karen Blixen, her
lover,
Denys Finch Hatton, and her husband, baron Bror Blixen
- Mary Ann Riley, Des Moines Register, July 2, 1995
Donelson puts
the romance in perspective and moreover offers a fresh appraisal of the
author's literary output in the light of lifelong physical problems.
This
is an authoritative, yet warm and readable biography of a colorful
literary
figure
- ALA Booklist, April 1995 Two facts contribute to the
spellbinding
nature of this updated account of Dinesen's years in Africa.
Attributing
symptoms Dinesen suffered to arsenic poisoning, Donelson lends her
medical
expertise to reinterpretations of Dinesen's health problems. At the
same
time, Donelson's personal experience of life in Kenya--in the very same
area where Dinesen herself lived--accounts for especially vivid
depictions
of the African landscape and of Dinesen's beloved home. Admirers of
"Out
of Africa" and "Seven Gothic Tales" should delight in Donelson's
graceful,
beguiling prose, revealing the every essence of Dinesen's stirring
experience
of African life and of her vital relationships with lovers and family
- Midwest Book Review, August 1998 "Out of Isak Dinesen"
is an
important
new biography and the first to present Karen Blixen to a broad general
audience...an impressive and intimate biography that has both broken
new
ground and corrected previous errors concerning the life and work of a
major literary figure
- January Magazine online, March 1998 The character
[Meryl]
Streep
portrayed wasn't a fictional someone. Rather, she was a living person
who
breathed adventure at a time when women most often didn't...Donelson's
reportage of these events as well as her research are impeccable, as
well
as being interesting reading. "Out of Isak Dinesen" is one woman's
story,
but it is also a beautiful portrait of Africa at the beginning of this
century and the political and environmental influences that affected
it...Snapshots
of Blixen's Africa are written with the same lyricism Donelson brings
to
breathing life into her portrayal of the woman herself...Donelson has
done
a remarkable job in bringing this portion of history back to life
- The Women's Review of Books, September, 1998 Linda
Donelson's
intent
in this engrossing retelling is to return the depth and color of
reality
to a rich and finally tragic story...imbued with a strong affinity for
Africa and for her subject...she carefully documents a narrative that
is
eminently readable and empathetic, perhaps because of the power of her
conviction that she is telling the true story of a flesh and blood
woman
with whom other flesh and blood women may identify... "Out of Isak
Dinesen"
is a meticulous account of the ups and downs of the marriage...The
famous
romance of Karen and Denys Finch-Hatton, the British aristocrat and
sportsman,
is here given substance missing in Isak Dinesen's own memoirs as well
as
in other biographies...Our understanding of one of the foremost writers
of the century is immeasurably deepened.
- "Linda Donelson's biography of Karen Blixen's African years makes
such
absorbing reading that I could hardly put the book down. She is a
splendid
narrator who knows how to organize scenes and delineate characters,
especially
the complex characters of Karen, her husband Bror, and her lover Denys
Finch Hatton...I strongly recommend this book to readers interested in
the life and work of Karen Blixen or Isak Dinesen."--Robert Langbaum,
author
of
"Isak Dinesen's Art: The Gaiety of Vision"
- "the book is well written and thoroughly researched...it proves
my old
idea that Blixen's life was more interesting and more exciting in
itself
than the soap opera it has been turned into--with help from the great
Storyteller
herself. Donelson presents the facts...painting them neither black nor
white nor squeezing the tear ducts, and the whole saga becomes the more
moving and interesting for that."--Anders Westenholz, author,
and
relative of Karen Blixen.
- "Dr. Donelson's forte is...her perceptiveness and pursuit of
factual
events
and circumstances of relevance to Blixen's years in Africa. Not only is
she well acquainted with both Blixen's personal and Africa's colonial
history,
but she has managed to bring her own experiences from [Africa] to bear
on her rendition. She has a gift for sympathetic insight that befits
her
subject...refreshing...."--Professor Paul Houe, Director, The
Center
for Nordic Studies, University of Minnesota. "At last Karen Blixen is a
real person!"--Armelle Webster, Blixen scholar.
Out of Isak
Dinesen:
Karen Blixen's untold story (Book Description)
To order by credit card,
contact our
distributor: Penfield Books,
penfield@penfieldpress.com,
tel. 1-800-728-9998.
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Supported misspellings:
karen blixon, karin, isaac, isak dineson, isak denison, dinison,
dinisen, denesen, dinnison, dennison, dinnisen, coolsong, donaldson