Isabelle: The Life of Isabelle Eberhardt

by Annette Kobak

An illustrated biography of Isabelle Eberhardt who, although she died young, became a legend in her own lifetime. Using her diaries and many previously unpublished letters, the author tells of her childhood in Geneva, her adventures in the North African desert and her identification with the Arabs. The film rights of this book have been sold.

From Publishers Weekly:
This captivating biography describes a turn-of-the-century Russian adventurer who was drawn by her romance with Islam to travel throughout north Africa, writing about the lives of the colonial French and local Arabs . Her colorful career ended abruptly in death at the age of 27 in a torrential flash flood that struck a remote hillside garrison in Algeria. Born in 1877 in Geneva, Eberhardt bore the maiden name of her mother, who had left Russia and her elderly husband, a general, five years earlier to go to Switzerland with her children's tutor, an anarchist. Never sure of her identity, Eberhardt embraced a series of disguises as a teenager and afterward, taking a series of male noms de plume and dressing as a man, which eased her way into the tents and Moslem monasteries of the desert. What was not in question was her sexuality, which was decidedly hetero: Eberhardt's fondness for "nights of love" culminated in marriage to an Arab officer in the French colonial cavalry. In this well-researched book, Kobak, a British writer who translated Eberhardt's only published novel, Vagabond , skillfully weaves brief excerpts from her subject's work into her riveting story.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Africa, Travel, Middle East

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall not totally swept off my feet with this biography of a forgotten woman and author of the turn of the century. Isabelle was of Russian birth (out of wedlock) who grew up in Geneva with her siblings and mother but also with a man who never outright admitted his paternity. Her childhood was full of education but never acceptance and she grew up comfortable with taking on the identity of a young boy which she carried through adulthood. Fascinated by Islamic culture, Isabelle felt she was Muslim at birth and Algeria grew to be her adopted country. Truly taken with the Islamic religion, she would travel extensively in Algeria and Tunesia, learning from religious leaders, but all the while dressing as a man, at times assuming a male name, but taking on various male lovers. She irked the establishment of the French colonial government who thought her a deviant, a woman of wanton needs who induldged in sex and drugs. It was an interesting life story and it is rich in documented references of Isabelle's writings (published and diaries), as well as governmental paperwork which quantifies her life via Russia, Switzerland, France, Algeria, and Tunesia. At times the book felt weighed down by all the details and in the end I was left sadly wondering to what end this book really served. Isabelle marched to her own drum for sure but I am unclear what contribution her individualistic pursuit of religious happiness has to society at large.

[Kamila · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5*
Though well researched I found this book to be unnecessarily too long and too detailed. This guy said this and that guy said that...who cares?! Also, the author uses a lot of french words and doesn’t show the translation, which for a non french reader is rather annoying!
Isabelle was an incredible writer and it isn’t even discussed or portrayed here. I’m glad I’ve read her books already, because if I didn’t, after reading only this biography I don’t know if I would bother. Isabelle’s work is so beautifully eloquent and to me she is the best travel writer ever, being only 27 it’s mind blowing how mature and philosophical her mind was.

[Helen]

Isabelle Eberhardt was born the daughter of a Russian emigree and her lover. Raised in a bizarre household in Geneva, she dreamed of North Africa. She made it there and became a devout Muslim, lived like a desert Arab but her unconventional lifestyle - cross dressing , sex, etc. - made her a threat to the French authorities.

[Tony Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

She only lived for 27 years, but what an interesting life she lived.

[Sufie Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the exciting story of a woman, who broke all rules so that she could explore and travel the world, in the end of the nineteenth century. One of my favorite books of all times.

[Cherine Hakani · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ I am alone [je suis seul- she writes of herself in the masculine gender, occasionally slipping into the feminine], sitting facing the grey vastness of the shifting sea... I am alone... alone as i’ve Always been everywhere, as i’ll Always be throughout this delightful and deceptive great Universe... alone, with a whole world of disappointment and disillusion behind me, and of memories growing daily more distant , almost unreal.”

[MaryTank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book about a courageous woman who accomplished the impossible considering the time, geographic locations she traveled, particularly Algeria, and that she was a woman from poverty stricken aristocratic roots who was as comfortable within the realm of European class as she was accepted by Muslim desert sects in the areas where she traveled, and military power within these same areas.

I have to wonder why her life took such sadly twisted and ill-chosen turns particularly with the men she chose to be such significant parts of her life, which, toward the end of her short life, seemed desperate. Perhaps the years of travel, poverty, desert life and illness had much to do with these final chapters. But I marvel at her intelligence, bravery and independence.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about a woman whose name I recognized but about whom I knew little. Eberhardt was raised in Geneva by Russian parents with complicated lives! Her mother had left her husband in Russia and lived with the man who was Eberhardt's father (though it was never admitted or acknowledged by anyone in the family that he was her father.) From him she learned many languages, including Arabic. She spent much of her very short life in Algeria, traveling by herself often, living "rough", dressing as a man frequently, was a practicing Moslem, was a published author, died very young.

[Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a biography of Isabelle Eberhardt, a rich, well-educated, cross-dressing, sexually liberated and voracious, anarchist, muslim, woman of Victorian-era Europe. She lived among a Sufi brotherhood as a man but fucked them as a woman. She fought against the French on the side of the Arabs. She spoke several languages. She lived fast, and at 27, she died in a flash flood in Algeria in 1904. Quelle vie!

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and well-researched biography.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT AN ADVENTURE

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brave woman, fascinating story.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting life of an unconventional woman