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A Winter on the Nile: Florence Nightingale, Gustave Flaubert and the Temptations of Egypt
In the winter of 1849, Florence Nightingale was an unknown 29-year-old--beautiful, well-born and deeply unhappy. After clashing with her parents over her refusal to marry, she had been offered a lifeline by family friends who suggested a trip to Egypt, a country which she had always longed to visit.
By an extraordinary coincidence, taking the same boat from Alexandria was an unpublished French writer, Gustave Flaubert. Like Nightingale, he was at the crossroads in his life that was to lead to future acclaim, and Egypt for him represented escape and freedom as well as inspiration.
But as a wealthy young man travelling with male friends, he had access to an altogether different Egypt: where Nightingale sought out temples and dispensaries, Flaubert visited brothels and harems.
In this beguiling book, Anthony Sattin reveals a key moment in the lives of two extraordinary figures on the brink of international fame, and provides a fascinating insight into the early days of travel to one of the greatest tourist destinations on the planet.
By an extraordinary coincidence, taking the same boat from Alexandria was an unpublished French writer, Gustave Flaubert. Like Nightingale, he was at the crossroads in his life that was to lead to future acclaim, and Egypt for him represented escape and freedom as well as inspiration.
But as a wealthy young man travelling with male friends, he had access to an altogether different Egypt: where Nightingale sought out temples and dispensaries, Flaubert visited brothels and harems.
In this beguiling book, Anthony Sattin reveals a key moment in the lives of two extraordinary figures on the brink of international fame, and provides a fascinating insight into the early days of travel to one of the greatest tourist destinations on the planet.
326 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 2010
About the author
Anthony Sattin
58 books30 followersAnthony Sattin (1956- ) is a British journalist, broadcaster and travel writer. His main area of interest is the Middle East and Africa, particularly Egypt.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 16, 2021
I really enjoyed this book, well written with an excellent depth of knowledge about Egypt and the two travellers, that is, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert. The part I enjoyed the most was where the author, Anthony Sattin, shares extracts of Florence Nightingale's diaries and letters. I'm intrigued and surprised by Florence's beautiful prose, she has the ability to capture, in words, the atmosphere and beauty of the world around her. Also I am pleasantly surprised by her intelligence demonstrated by her empathetic unbiased grasp of the similarities between different religions. A good story, a good read!
August 19, 2021
This is the story of two young travellers who both set out on a trip to Egypt at much the same time. Florence Nightingale left from England with a circle of friends and Gustave Flaubert left from France with a companion. Both were at a crossroads in their lives, Nightingale searching for a career, nursing her preference but her parents were totally against such a venture, and Flaubert was a young, at the time unpublished, French writer with ambitions to become one of the greats of literature.
They never knowingly met on the trip although they did travel on the same ferry from Alexandria to Cairo and with only 70 passengers on board it is possible that they did, without being aware of identity, see each other and indeed Flaubert did go below at one point when he recorded seeing, 'an English family; hideous, the mother looking like a sick old parrot'. In addition,. much later on they visited the same sights at different times and when at Asyut, making their way up to the Lyscopolis caves, the French party was taken by a guide to see footprints in the sand which they were told belonged to an Englishwoman who had been there a few days earlier. And Florence NIghtingale's party had indeed visited then.
Of the ferry trip to Cairo Nightingale recorded (she kept two diaries, one private and one for public consumption), 'The canal perfectly uninteresting' while Flaubert wrote, 'The banks flat and dead ...'. They were echoing views expressed by the writer Harriet Martineau who had visited Egypt a few years before as she had found her journey up the Nile, 'as serious a labour as the mind and spirit can be involved in'. Nightingale and Flaubert did not express many other views on the same topics because while Nightingale visited temples and dispensaries (to see how they worked and to view nursing facilities), Flaubert spent some of his time in the brothels and harems.
On their respective trips there was plenty of time for the travellers to reflect on their past and Nightingale spent quite some time thinking of her relationship with Richard Monckton Milnes, who had, back at home, raised the subject of marriage with her. Although she spoke of him as 'the man I adored' she was not for marriage for she objected to the role of women in that institution; she wanted a career, not to be tied down to a husband. Flaubert, on the other hand, was consumed with his passion to produce a great novel and when not thinking of that he wrote in his diary, 'I can see nothing better in the world for me than a nice, well heated room with the books I love and the leisure to enjoy them.' [Happiness indeed!]
So on they went, up and down the Nile, with Nightingale at Abu Simnel writing home about the cow-headed goddess Hathor, to whom the temple at Abu Simnel was dedicated. She wrote that Hathor was 'the nurse who fills heaven and earth with her beneficent acts'. This was exactly what Nightingale had decided she, too, wanted to do. And it was just beyond Abu Simnel that Flaubert first conceived the idea for his future novel. 'I have found it! Eureka! Eureka! I will call her Emma Bovary', his travelling companion recalled him saying a number of times, each time savouring the name Bovary. The winter on the Nile could certainly be said to have been the catalyst for both these travellers' future careers.
Near the end of their trip, the pair had differing views on Karnak with Nightingale writing, 'What do people come to Egypt for? I cannot think.' Flaubert meanwhile was sad at leaving the place and thought Karnak 'by far the finest place we have seen on this trip'. And there are plenty of other interesting comments on other parts of Egypt throughout the book.
By the time they had returned to Alexandria, Nightingale was convinced that she would become a nurse (and so she did as history records) and Flaubert, with his statement, 'I have a burning desire to write', knew that he was going to pen a famous novel on his return to France (and so he did).
Anthony Sattin gives us an excellent picture of Victorian Egypt and the leisurely way one travelled through it in those times, plus he presents superb character portraits of the two protagonists as they shadowed each other across Egypt. It is a most readable, highly informative and most enjoyable book - one can easily imagine that one is relaxing on a cange (one of the Nile cruising boats) as it makes it peaceful way down the river!
They never knowingly met on the trip although they did travel on the same ferry from Alexandria to Cairo and with only 70 passengers on board it is possible that they did, without being aware of identity, see each other and indeed Flaubert did go below at one point when he recorded seeing, 'an English family; hideous, the mother looking like a sick old parrot'. In addition,. much later on they visited the same sights at different times and when at Asyut, making their way up to the Lyscopolis caves, the French party was taken by a guide to see footprints in the sand which they were told belonged to an Englishwoman who had been there a few days earlier. And Florence NIghtingale's party had indeed visited then.
Of the ferry trip to Cairo Nightingale recorded (she kept two diaries, one private and one for public consumption), 'The canal perfectly uninteresting' while Flaubert wrote, 'The banks flat and dead ...'. They were echoing views expressed by the writer Harriet Martineau who had visited Egypt a few years before as she had found her journey up the Nile, 'as serious a labour as the mind and spirit can be involved in'. Nightingale and Flaubert did not express many other views on the same topics because while Nightingale visited temples and dispensaries (to see how they worked and to view nursing facilities), Flaubert spent some of his time in the brothels and harems.
On their respective trips there was plenty of time for the travellers to reflect on their past and Nightingale spent quite some time thinking of her relationship with Richard Monckton Milnes, who had, back at home, raised the subject of marriage with her. Although she spoke of him as 'the man I adored' she was not for marriage for she objected to the role of women in that institution; she wanted a career, not to be tied down to a husband. Flaubert, on the other hand, was consumed with his passion to produce a great novel and when not thinking of that he wrote in his diary, 'I can see nothing better in the world for me than a nice, well heated room with the books I love and the leisure to enjoy them.' [Happiness indeed!]
So on they went, up and down the Nile, with Nightingale at Abu Simnel writing home about the cow-headed goddess Hathor, to whom the temple at Abu Simnel was dedicated. She wrote that Hathor was 'the nurse who fills heaven and earth with her beneficent acts'. This was exactly what Nightingale had decided she, too, wanted to do. And it was just beyond Abu Simnel that Flaubert first conceived the idea for his future novel. 'I have found it! Eureka! Eureka! I will call her Emma Bovary', his travelling companion recalled him saying a number of times, each time savouring the name Bovary. The winter on the Nile could certainly be said to have been the catalyst for both these travellers' future careers.
Near the end of their trip, the pair had differing views on Karnak with Nightingale writing, 'What do people come to Egypt for? I cannot think.' Flaubert meanwhile was sad at leaving the place and thought Karnak 'by far the finest place we have seen on this trip'. And there are plenty of other interesting comments on other parts of Egypt throughout the book.
By the time they had returned to Alexandria, Nightingale was convinced that she would become a nurse (and so she did as history records) and Flaubert, with his statement, 'I have a burning desire to write', knew that he was going to pen a famous novel on his return to France (and so he did).
Anthony Sattin gives us an excellent picture of Victorian Egypt and the leisurely way one travelled through it in those times, plus he presents superb character portraits of the two protagonists as they shadowed each other across Egypt. It is a most readable, highly informative and most enjoyable book - one can easily imagine that one is relaxing on a cange (one of the Nile cruising boats) as it makes it peaceful way down the river!
May 13, 2013
This was very interesting to me. In part, it was interesting to see how the temples and cities in Egypt have changed over 160 years. Of course the way I saw them looks nothing like the sights Nightingale and Flaubert saw. Their individual stories were also intriguing. Their trips in 1849 were before either was famous so they were anonymous as they traveled at the same time to the same places, probably seeing but not recognizing one another. Their perspectives on the same trip were very different but both struggled to find a way to live their passions. Both were changed by their trips and propelled to fame shortly afterward because of the decisions they made. I thought it was all fascinating.
September 11, 2019
This is the story of Florence nightingale and Gustave Flaubert travelling on the Nile. Sattin used extracts from their letters and diaries to show their separate journeys up and down the Nile at the same time in 1849. They do come across as entitled European tourists however as Egypt as a conquered nation run by the French and the British. However I was fascinated by Nightingale's journey and her world view. I only know of her Nursing Days but this shows her resistance to be married off which considers being bought and sold, like prostitution. She has an epiphany while visiting the Temples along the Nile = both religious with her linking of Osiris to Jesus and personal, her idea of nursing as a calling from God. Having cruised down the Nile and visited all the places they visited, I found this an enlightening and lovely story. However, I did not find Flaubert attractive at all - using and "srewing" (his words) all the women he could along the Nile. Pretending they were exotic dancers and forcing his attentions on them (especially when one was obviously sick and possibly syphilitic) were the most unpleasant pieces of the book. That he went on to write Madame Bovary is interesting and I must re-read it when I can. That Nightingale's mission to provide proper hospital care for soldiers and others and her nursing ideas that became standard medical practice was formulated on this trip is equally fascinating. An interesting read.
April 15, 2026
It seems this novel would be a wonderful companion on a trip to Egypt. The concept of the comparison of the trip from two angles was intriguing. I think it would be an incredible addendum to review the astrology of Flaubert and Nightingale at that time to elaborate further into the psychology of what was happening for them at that time. (Florence Nightingale's birth chart, calculated for May 12, 1820, at 14:00 in Florence, Italy, features a Taurus Sun and Taurus Moon conjunct in the 9th house, alongside a Virgo Ascendant (the maiden of service and health), Gustave Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, at 04:00 AM in Rouen, France, resulting in a Sagittarius Sun, Leo Moon, and Scorpio Ascendant for anyone inclined! Both 9th house moons, drawing them to long distance travel... I'll read it! Mercury also in 1st house for Flaubert in case you doubt astrology, his identity (1st house) is wrapped up in Mercury (communication) of underworld topics (Scorpio).... )
I was drawn to this book because of personal interests in the Nile and Egyptian myth, and for that I have a few notes. :)
'An Egyptian novel apparently begins with a man's death.... Then he is standing before Osiris, who sits with his whip in his hand and the dog Cerberus opposite him, and Truth writing down his deeds (with an ostrich feather which is her emblem) and the 40 assessors or judges, all ranged on a shelf above him, each with a different beast's head; another God is holding the scales, and his good deeds look very light.' (Nightingale's interpretation of inscription) - 101
Hathor, the cow-headed goddess; Nightingale translated her name as the habitation of Horus, of God. Hathor... is the nurse, who fills heaven and earth with her beneficent acts." She also understood Hathor to be the goddess of joy, 'the lady of dance and mirth, a sort of joy like that of children playing at the daisy chains. God and nurse, dance and mirth. (from Abu Simbel) - 153
Dakka Temple- dedicated to Thoth and this particular temple to Hermes Trimegistus (not very attractive, she notes likely because it was built late 300 BCE). Nightingale viewed Hermes as a being who embodied nothing less than the intelligence of the universe. (166) ...She believed she was about to step into the workplace of 'the inventor of hieroglyphics, of medicine, theology, mathematics. "' (167)
She filled pages with comparisons between the stories of Osiris and Jesus..... Then she wondered whether Osiris was an earlier incarnation of the same divine urge that has created Jesus..... She then extrapolated what she believed was a universal truth- that humans prefer their gods to suffer than to sit in pomp and glory. She went further and visited the Osiris story, as she viewed Jesus' life, as proof that one needed to suffer in order to achieve goodness. - 180
I was drawn to this book because of personal interests in the Nile and Egyptian myth, and for that I have a few notes. :)
'An Egyptian novel apparently begins with a man's death.... Then he is standing before Osiris, who sits with his whip in his hand and the dog Cerberus opposite him, and Truth writing down his deeds (with an ostrich feather which is her emblem) and the 40 assessors or judges, all ranged on a shelf above him, each with a different beast's head; another God is holding the scales, and his good deeds look very light.' (Nightingale's interpretation of inscription) - 101
Hathor, the cow-headed goddess; Nightingale translated her name as the habitation of Horus, of God. Hathor... is the nurse, who fills heaven and earth with her beneficent acts." She also understood Hathor to be the goddess of joy, 'the lady of dance and mirth, a sort of joy like that of children playing at the daisy chains. God and nurse, dance and mirth. (from Abu Simbel) - 153
Dakka Temple- dedicated to Thoth and this particular temple to Hermes Trimegistus (not very attractive, she notes likely because it was built late 300 BCE). Nightingale viewed Hermes as a being who embodied nothing less than the intelligence of the universe. (166) ...She believed she was about to step into the workplace of 'the inventor of hieroglyphics, of medicine, theology, mathematics. "' (167)
She filled pages with comparisons between the stories of Osiris and Jesus..... Then she wondered whether Osiris was an earlier incarnation of the same divine urge that has created Jesus..... She then extrapolated what she believed was a universal truth- that humans prefer their gods to suffer than to sit in pomp and glory. She went further and visited the Osiris story, as she viewed Jesus' life, as proof that one needed to suffer in order to achieve goodness. - 180
March 15, 2018
What a wonderful book! I got this from the library but I think I am going to buy a copy as it will bear another few readings. (I wasn't looking for it, it just presented itself to the corner of my eye when passing!)
Set in the first half of the 19th century, it is 'dramatized non-fiction'.. Based on the diaries of Florence Nightingale, Flaubert and Du Camp. (The author discovered the diaries of FN in the British Library and published them some years before writing this book.)
The setting is before FN became a nurse and shows what a remarkable, non-conformist woman she was: spurning marriage and the accepted occupations for middle-class women of the day. Separately, but at the same time and without knowledge of each other, FN and Flaubert were in Egypt. It is very likely that they travelled the same ferry up the Nile from Alexandria to Cairo but then took different boats up the Nile to Abu Simbel and back. Along the way, FN who had been 'called by God' but didn't quite know what for, explored temples and her inner mind. She wriggled into temples (many still buried under sand at that time) at one point removing her outer dress so being what my grandma would have called her 'dishabile'. She drew many comparisons between the early Christian story and the Osiris myths. Flaubert and Du Camp on the other hand explored brothels. At the conclusion of the book, she understands her calling and her nursing career commences. Flaubert settles to write Madame Bovary.
Having lived several years in Egypt, I think this helped bring the book more to life for me. I found it very easy reading.
Set in the first half of the 19th century, it is 'dramatized non-fiction'.. Based on the diaries of Florence Nightingale, Flaubert and Du Camp. (The author discovered the diaries of FN in the British Library and published them some years before writing this book.)
The setting is before FN became a nurse and shows what a remarkable, non-conformist woman she was: spurning marriage and the accepted occupations for middle-class women of the day. Separately, but at the same time and without knowledge of each other, FN and Flaubert were in Egypt. It is very likely that they travelled the same ferry up the Nile from Alexandria to Cairo but then took different boats up the Nile to Abu Simbel and back. Along the way, FN who had been 'called by God' but didn't quite know what for, explored temples and her inner mind. She wriggled into temples (many still buried under sand at that time) at one point removing her outer dress so being what my grandma would have called her 'dishabile'. She drew many comparisons between the early Christian story and the Osiris myths. Flaubert and Du Camp on the other hand explored brothels. At the conclusion of the book, she understands her calling and her nursing career commences. Flaubert settles to write Madame Bovary.
Having lived several years in Egypt, I think this helped bring the book more to life for me. I found it very easy reading.
December 29, 2023
I've wanted to read this book for a while, intriguing travel adventure of Flaubert and Nightingale at early stages of their careers traveling the Nile (not together nor on the same boat) at the same time and critical periods in the formation of their lives. The book was a bit slow getting started but once they were on the Nile, fascinating depiction of food, sex, sights, textiles and music of the time period! Gives good insights into the state of mind of these two individuals and how the trip enabled them to reconcile various aspects of their lives and propel them forward with clarity to become the world-renowned people they did become.
August 12, 2022
Actually a page turner! Great to read before our upcoming trip to Egypt — going on a similar route but of course not able to do the journey in the same way — not camping at the ancient sites nor spending four months floating on the Nile. Still, it’s fun to dream. Also an interesting exercise in contrasts — young Nightingale and Flaubert being so very different and yet at similar inflection points in their life’s work.
November 11, 2016
May be if I was more objective, I would have rated it the The Five Full Stars, but I was not.
Generally Speaking .. I truly loved the novel, loved it so much, I loved to read about my country and to see it in the eyes of foreigners who loved it that much. I loved to read about one of the best, most beautiful trips one can ever go through, the River Nile Cruise (certainly it differs a lot now from that time of the novel (Winter 1849))
HOW DID THEY SEE MY COUNTRY ??
What would one ever write about his own country better than what is written in this novel ?!!
Cannot write better than the very last words of the novel .. "But the last word should be from Florence Nightingale. While sailing on the Nile, She Had Declared It --Impossible That People Could Return From Egypt and Live Their Lives as They had Done Before --" Falubert would have agreed with her. Time proved her right.
So Farewell, Dear, Beautiful, Noble Egypt, The Country which Brought Forth a Race of Giants, Giants In War, Art, Science and Philosophy. Farewell Without Regret, Without Pain (except a merely personal sorrow), For There Is Nothing Mournful In The Remains Of A Country Which Like Its Own Old Nile, Has Overflowed and Fertilized The World.
Whence comes thou, so marvelously dowered as ne'er other stream on earth beside?
Where are thy founts of being, thus empowered to form a nation by their annual tide?
The charts are silent; history guesses wide; adventure from thy quest returns ashamed; and each new age, in its especial pride, believes that it shall be as that one named, in which to all mankind thy birth-place was proclaimed
Generally Speaking .. I truly loved the novel, loved it so much, I loved to read about my country and to see it in the eyes of foreigners who loved it that much. I loved to read about one of the best, most beautiful trips one can ever go through, the River Nile Cruise (certainly it differs a lot now from that time of the novel (Winter 1849))
HOW DID THEY SEE MY COUNTRY ??
What would one ever write about his own country better than what is written in this novel ?!!
Cannot write better than the very last words of the novel .. "But the last word should be from Florence Nightingale. While sailing on the Nile, She Had Declared It --Impossible That People Could Return From Egypt and Live Their Lives as They had Done Before --" Falubert would have agreed with her. Time proved her right.
So Farewell, Dear, Beautiful, Noble Egypt, The Country which Brought Forth a Race of Giants, Giants In War, Art, Science and Philosophy. Farewell Without Regret, Without Pain (except a merely personal sorrow), For There Is Nothing Mournful In The Remains Of A Country Which Like Its Own Old Nile, Has Overflowed and Fertilized The World.
Whence comes thou, so marvelously dowered as ne'er other stream on earth beside?
Where are thy founts of being, thus empowered to form a nation by their annual tide?
The charts are silent; history guesses wide; adventure from thy quest returns ashamed; and each new age, in its especial pride, believes that it shall be as that one named, in which to all mankind thy birth-place was proclaimed
September 11, 2015
A wonderful read where two amazing personalities, Nightingale and Flaubert, happen to cross paths on the Nile. Again, we see the plight of the bright and ambitious woman forced to take a back seat to conventions of the time. We had just return from a trip down the exoctic Nile, so this book struck a responsive chord.
April 24, 2015
Interesting book about Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert who both visited Egypt in 1849-50, their experiences and the effect it had on their subsequent careers.
May 28, 2016
Part dual biography, part travel history, part Egyptomania nostalgia. Delicious.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews