In this engrossing biography, the woman hitherto overshadowed by her husband is brought from black-and-white to full colour: a talented professional photographer, she left behind 3,000 pictures and a treasure trove of letters, from which archivist Fenwick pieces together a powerful portrait.
Joan’s adventures with the travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, whom she met in Cairo in 1944 and remained with until her death, are evocatively chronicled. Their peripatetic lives included journeys through Greece, the Caribbean islands and the jungles of central America. She encouraged his “psychological need to write”, and we see her influence on his work.
Societal expectations of women are compellingly captured, as is Joan’s inner life, both her restlessness and yearning for a home – they finally settled in Kardamyli, southern Greece, in a house where Bruce Chatwin wrote The Songlines. Here are vivid vignettes of Joan and the places and people she loved.
• Joan: The Remarkable Life of Joan Leigh Fermor by Simon Fenwick is published by Macmillan (£25). To order a copy for £21.25 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99
