The Novellas of Martha Gellhorn

“[Blending] cool lyricism and fiery emotion, alternately prickly and welcoming, funny and stern, Gellhorn is one of the most extraordinary women of our era.”—Chicago Sun-Times

Spanning more than 40 years and settings that range from Depression-era America to the smartest London dinner parties to the highlands of East Africa, the novellas of Martha Gellhorn display the same qualities that have made her one of the most famous journalists of the twentieth century: an indelible sense of place, prose of breathtaking swiftness and precision, and an unerring fix on the hidden motives of her characters. Above all, Martha Gellhorn explores the ways men and women live privately—and often passionately—amid the rush of history.

“Reading Martha Gellhorn for the first time is a staggering experience. She is not a travel writer or a journalist or a novelist: she is all of these, and one of the most eloquent witnesses of the twentieth century.”—Bill Buford, Granta

“Martha Gellhorn is one of our very best writers. To the swift and vibrant medium of the [novella], she brings a richness of experience, a tenderness and depth of feeling.”—The Atlantic

“Peerless and hilarious . . . Martha Gellhorn is a wittily astringent writer.”—Vogue