Tales of high adventure, exotic cultures, and intrepid travelers we think you might enjoy . .

Anatolian Days and Nights: A Love Affair with Turkey, Land of Dervishes, Goddesses, and Saints, Joy E. Stocke and Angie Brenner. Wild River Books 2012. Two women meet on the coast of Turkey, become friends, and share their sense of adventure and love of history, culture, cuisine and literature over ten years of exploring this fascinating, hypnotic country. They follow the trail of the cult of goddesses, find inspiration in the poetry of thirteenth-century mystic Jeluddin Rumi, attend the Whirling Dervishes Festival, and make lifetime friends among local people. They share it all in this well-written, appealing adventure. Here’s an excerpt to give you a tantalizing taste:

Caught up in the romance of the neighborhood, we stop for a drink at the Pera Palace Hotel, where mystery writer Agatha Christie is said to have written her famous thriller Murder on the Orient Express in homage to the luxury train that began its journey in Paris and ended at Istanbul’s Sirkeci Station. The Pera Palace had a reputation for hosting some of the world’s more interesting women, including Dutch-born spy Mata Hari, who, during World War I, kept a room at the Pera and passed secrets over cocktails.

Eyes follow us when we walk into the Pera’s dark, paneled bar. At a corner table, a group of businessmen drink scotch, smoke cigars, and exchange documents from leather briefcases. A woman in a furtrimmed jacket perches on a barstool, running a fingertip around the rim of her martini glass. We settle into high-backed chairs under a tall window and order two rakı.

For those who love to kick back in an easy chair and read about others’ adventures in foreign lands without any of the hardships and challenges, you’ll love this book. For those who read and then get the itch to do it too, you’ll also love this book and you’ll want to join Angie and Joy on one of their upcoming journeys in the land they’ve come to love. For more information

Across Many Mountains: A Tibetan Family’s Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom, Yangzom Brauen. St. Martin’s 2011. A remarkable examination of three generations of Tibetan women, beginning with the author’s grandmother, Kunsang, who became a Buddhist nun when still a young teenager following the deaths of her parents. Brauen gives us a rare look at the details of daily family and religious life in Tibet in those early years of the Chinese invasions, when few outsiders had ventured into their lands. When soldiers tore through their region laying waste to everything in their path, Kunsang and her family fled across the Himalayas, unprepared for the physical toll the exodus would take. In India they spent years in refugee and work camps leading hard scrabble lives and experiencing painful losses. Their journey ultimately brings them to Switzerland. A wonderful story rich in courage, love, and spirituality. Author’s website  

SPECIAL CUBA SECTION from the editor

In January 2012, I traveled with a special group of people on a State-Department-approved journey to Cuba. It was a cultural mission organized by Tom Miller, author of Trading with the Enemy and long-time Cuba scholar, regular visitor to the island for over 20 years, and a leader of educational tours there for the National Geographic Society and other organizations. I had long had an interest in traveling there and this opportunity to research women artists on the island and broaden my knowledge of Cuba’s contemporary literature, poetry, theater, dance, and music was very welcome.

In case you are contemplating travel to Cuba, island of legend and elicitor of strong political views, or just want to know more about how it is these days, here are two essays written by fellow travelers to relay some of their own discoveries. I think you’ll find them entertaining and informative. I’ve also included a link to a blog post I wrote for Artist Spotlight on one of Cuba’s most famous poets, Reina María Rodgriguez.

Photo credit: Susan Tarrance

First up is a short review by Stephen Golden of Tucson, Arizona, on rum, currency, and fine dining.

Richard Wadley, Our man in Havana

Second, we hear from Richard Wadley of South Africa, who ventured out on his own in a rental car after the rest of us departed. He wanted to sample communities beyond Havana and writes wittily about what he found.

And a fascinating glimpse into the heart and mind of Reina María.

If you’d like to learn more about Cuba’s history and others’ personal Cuba experiences, here are a few books and a journal to get you started. Of course, this short list only scratches the surface of what’s available. But it will get you started!

To Change the World: My Years in Cuba, Margaret Randall. Rutgers University Press 2009. I took this with me when I went to Cuba and it proved to be a fascinating background guide to what has transpired there since Fidel took power in 1959. It chronicles this writer and poet’s decade in Cuba from 1969 to 1980 where she lived as an activist and raised her four children. The book includes some thought-provoking insights into education, law, healthcare, employment, internationalism, culture, and ordinary people’s lives. I found it to be honest and genuine, as Randall writes candidly about how her beliefs in socialism and activism have evolved over time and addresses questions that should be raised globally about the welfare of the many compared to that of the privileged in societies. Author’s website

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban boy, Carlos Eire. Free Press 2003. In 1962, at the age of eleven, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba, destroying the life he’d led up until then as the privileged son of a prominent Cuban judge. This is the story of the life he left behind, told wonderfully from a child’s point of view, first during the years before Fidel Castro came to power and then what he saw as things changed radically for him and his family. It’s a personal story framed by national politics and provides a unique view of what it is to be Cuban. He also flashes forward at times to let readers know that, upon arriving in the United States, he and his brother became “orphans,” relegated to institutions and no longer admired or spoiled but, instead, spoken derisively to and about as “spics.” They barely knew how to tie their own shoelaces when they left Cuba and were soon on their own, joining thousands of others as janitors, dishwashers, and so on, barely subsisting. Carlos Eire, against all odds, went on to receive his PhD from Yale in 1979. His latest memoir, Learning to Die in Miami (2010), explores the exile experience. An NPR author interview

NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. 44, No. 4 (July/August 2011): This entire issue is focused on “Cuba: Salvaging a Revolution?” and is filled with solid information on a variety of topics by well-credentialed writers. It can be purchased online

Fidel: A Critical Portrait, Tad Szulc. Originally published in 1986, but reissued in paperback in 2000. This is an old book, perhaps the first definitive nonfiction book about the man and the country that I ever read. Szulc created an outstanding read based on a long, direct relationship with the man. If you are interested in how this man came to rule Cuba, this is the book to begin with. A brief biography of the deceased author

Trading with the Enemy: A Yankee Travels through Castro’s Cuba, Tom Miller. Basic Books, reissued with a new introduction in 2008. Miller’s journey takes him “from coastal cities to mountain villages, from the Bay of Pigs to Guantánamo, and introduces him to Cuba’s literati, black marketers, cane cutters, and cigar rollers. A vibrant, rhythmic portrait of a land and people too long shielded from American eyes.” Author’s website

Havana Noir, edited by Cuban-born fiction writer Achy Obejas. Akashic Books 2007. A collection of literary fiction by current and former residents of Havana, professional writers all—a look at the dark side of this legendary city. Revelatory in ways that often only fiction can be. Obejas’s website