Harare Review of Books

340 pages.

Expected publication date: April 2, 2024 (Rising Action Publishing Collective)

Non-fiction/Memoir.

Kristen Van Nest’s wise, witty, warm and sometimes harrowing memoir is a delight. She likely had no idea as she travelled the world in her young adulthood that she would eventually be taking readers like me along on her many adventures: from spending a year as a Fulbright scholar in Luxembourg, to a velvet-walled bunker, and New Year as a “foreign devil” in rural China. I will never do most of the things she’s done, but all of her amazing experiences are in this book for me to live vicariously through her.

Harrowing? There’s pain in this book—sexual assault in China, a violent roommate in the US, sexism and workplace bullying in Kenya, and more. But there’s also the very memorable tsunami of poo in an Airbnb, the unimaginably weird and unhinged yachting trip across the Mediterranean (with more poo), Greece in the time of Grexit, lard sandwiches in Germany and chicken hearts in Shanghai, and, of course, the highs and lows of relationships.

I love reading about women’s travels, and, again, Van Nest has lived more life than I can ever hope to attempt. I’m glad she’s written about it, generously giving us everything: the good, the bad, the ugly, and even the broke. This is a very fun read that, happily, ends on a joyful and hopeful note. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the author for an early copy.

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