• West with the Night

  • By: Beryl Markham
  • Narrated by: Julie Harris
  • Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,323 ratings)

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West with the Night  By  cover art

West with the Night

By: Beryl Markham
Narrated by: Julie Harris
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Publisher's summary

West with the Night is the story of a remarkable woman molded and shaped by many things: the African jungle, a certain dog, horses, airplanes, friendships with white men and black. There is no life, no story quite like it.
©1942, 1983 Beryl Markham. Recorded by arrangement with North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC (P)2003 The Arthur and Luce Klein Audio Collection, The Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings, Yale University Music Library

Critic reviews

"Julie Harris' reading of aviatrix Beryl Markham's biography and celebration of Africa is an essential audiobook. Enjoy the magic of the spoken word and Harris' lovely performance." (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about West with the Night

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Unsung classic

West with the Night ought to be as famous as any of the great books of the English language. The anecdotes of Markham's life are vivid and fascinating, her writing is exquisite and (in the case of this audiobook) the narrator gives a perfect delivery. Can't recommend highly enough. A pleasure from start to finish.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Remarkable story

The audio edition is almost a joke. You can hear the reader turn the pages she is reading and gasp for breath because she has misjudged the length of the sentence. Had the story not be so riveting the overall rating would have been much lower.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful prose - beautifully read

Markham's prose is gorgeous and the her story very interesting. I thought Julie Harris did a marvelous job as reader. There is a description of a horse race that is one of my favorite audible moments! There were some slow moments and I admit that it took me a little while to get into it but that said, I highly recommend this memoir.

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New favorite

This book is beautifully written! The story is moving, the author’s reflections are insightful and inspiring. This book is now on my favorite list. I know this is a book I will read again and again.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting history of Beryl Markham

I enjoyed learning about Beryl's life and the challenges she faced both chasing down elephants and similar prior to her historic flight that ended in a bog.

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Lost Masterpiece

This story is beautiful and mesmerizing, the narrator fully up to the challenge of reading such a spellbinding book. it's a wonder that it was lost to public awareness for 40 years, but we can be thankful it was rediscovered and that Audible has produced it.

it is not a book for just pilots and lovers of airplane tales, but for everyone who loves masterful storytelling. Beryl Markham is a pilot, adventurer, woman of action, and trainer of racehorses. It is a wonder that she could also write with such practiced grace. She and her reader infuse the storytelling with that sense of adventure and at times breathless excitement. It is a rare gift.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal woman

Great book. Slow the narration down a notch to fully absorb and enjoy this beautiful life story.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful, Adventerous, Uplifting!

I absolutely loved this book. Although it did take several attempts to get halfway through up to finishing it, I had a hard time focusing at the time because of my personal life. I am sad that the adventure is over. It was very well written. I saved several bookmarks that held so much meaning to my soul. Other parts made me laugh a lot, and lots of parts give you a broad image and great description. It was almost as if I was there the whole time.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone up for adventure in the eyes of a magnificent brave woman.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • CK
  • 06-25-23

What a life, and hats off to the narrator

Incredible story, words woven into images that will stay with me forever. And the narrator was complete perfection!

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Absolutely beautiful

This is such a beautifully written book.
I could listen to it again and will. Bravo!

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