So Near and Yet So Far

by Emily Kimbrough

The author and five good companions gaily explore the land of the Bayous and Plantations, Creoles and Cajuns.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Humor

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Kimbrough and a bevy of her girlfriends (college mates) set out for New Orleans and Evangeline country. They took the train because Kimbrough had a phobia about flying, so there are adventures on the Crescent Limited out of New York. Once in NoLa, their hotel situation is complicated, then resolved, and all is well. Shoes are changed, furs are shed and off they go to sightsee. And eat, and meet up with all the folks they are scheduled to see.

It is a kind of travelogue, but actually the vignettes about the people they met, the food they ate and the things they saw are the bones of the book. Kimbrough's friends are each unique and fun in her own way. They nip at each other, but manage to enjoy themselves immensely.

All of this took place in the early 1950s, and so gloves, furs, and many changes of clothing apropos of their activities are de rigueur. The manners are likewise of that era, and honestly, it was not something anyone under 60-something would relate to. Because I was familiar with her and her sidekick, Cornelia Otis Skinner, I knew what to expect in terms of her writing style (precise) and the period. It was hilarious most of the time, and interesting in that she filled in blanks on a lot of odd strands of Louisiana history.

If you like period books, read it

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another of Emily Kimbrough’s travel books, but this time, instead of venturing across the ocean to see the exotic, they find the exotic in their own country by visiting Louisiana. Beginning with a train trip from her New York City home (Emily Kimbrough loathes flying), she and her (mostly) congenial companions set forth for “Cajun Country.” It strikes me that in those days (fifty-plus years ago, in this case), everything did seem more exotic, places more remote. Here on the Eastern Shore, around that time, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge first opened to traffic, and what had been an isolated peninsula was so no longer. When this book was written, it was intended both as a personal travel story and as a guidebook for future travelers, even to providing addresses where one could write to obtain certain goods she recommended! (“Mrs. Dees’ specialty is orange pecan candy, “Ann Dees Orange Pecans” it is called, and she ships it all over the country. I can be ordered from her at 823 Ford Street, Lake Charles. It comes in two size boxes, one pound for $2 postpaid, two pounds $3.50.”) I always enjoy reading these gentle tales.