"A Voyager Out: The Life of Mary Kingsley" by Katherine Frank

             Katherine Frank's novel, "A Voyager Out," tells the life story of Mary Kingsley talks of her childhood, her young adult life, and her traveling life. She wanted to tell the world what this woman explorer did for Africa. Mary Kingsley had a famous family, many of whom were writers. Mary herself wrote two books. In her books, however, she leaves out a lot about her life. A lot of what Katherine Frank had discovered came from Mary's letters to friends while traveling. Some people who were the recipients of her letters found it odd that she put so much into her correspondence. In one case, she wrote a ten-page letter to a friend. His response to her was that she was wasting many of her good stories that could be published in a letter. Her response was to write him a six-page letter. She loved writing. She also loved her voyages to Africa.
             Part of Mary Kingsley's reason for loving her travel abroad came from her childhood life. Mary was born the daughter of a high-class man and his cook. George Kingsley was a writer and came from a family of writers. He did not produce much, however. He left a lot of his works unfinished, and many others unstarted. Because he did not do much in his lifetime, it has been said that his greatest gift to the world was his daughter. Her mother, Mary Bailey, was the innkeeper's daughter. Four days after her father and mother were married, Mary Kingsley was born. If her father had not married her mother, Mary would have been the bastard child of a destitute domestic. Mary would have only been able to lead a life of servitude herself. Oddly enough though, most of her young life was lead in servitude.
             Mary lived a long life of isolation. During her adolescent years, her mother was her only female role model of what a woman is supposed to be. Her mother was sick most of the time and therefore Mary had to take care of her and the household chores. While her father was off on one of his many voyages...

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"A Voyager Out: The Life of Mary Kingsley" by Katherine Frank. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 08:26, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/51842.html