Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton
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A champion of Africa, legendary for his good looks, his charm, and his prowess as a soldier, lover, and hunter, Denys Finch Hatton inspired Karen Blixen to write the unforgettable Out of Africa. Now esteemed British biographer Sara Wheeler tells the truth about this extraordinarily charismatic adventurer.Born to an old aristocratic family that had gambled away most of its fortune, Finch Hatton grew up in a world of effortless elegance and boundless power. In 1910, searching for something new, he arrived in British East Africa and fell in love–with a continent, with a landscape, with a way of life that was about to change forever. In Nairobi, Finch Hatton met Karen Blixen and embarked on one of the great love affairs of the twentieth century. Intellectual equals, Finch Hatton and Blixen were genuine pioneers in a land that was quickly being transformed by violence, greed, and bigotry. Ever restless, Finch Hatton wandered into a career as a big-game hunter and became an expert bush pilot. Mesmerized all his life by the allure of freedom and danger, Finch Hatton was, writes Wheeler, “the open road made flesh.” The New York Times - Florence Williams Everyone liked and many people loved Denys Finch Hatton. Few knew him well, and no one could ever fully understand him, certainly not his lovers, and, ultimately, not Sara Wheeler. But just as Blixen might have said, knowing him a little was worth the ride.
Maps xiThe Finch Hatton Family Tree xivIntroduction xviiOut of Trim 3Take Your Hat Off, Hatton 25Into Africa 51Huns in the Jungle 78Babylon, Mespot-Iraq 107My Wife's Lover 128Daniel 152Stunting 183Ariel 215Too Close to the Sun 241List of Illustrations 253Notes 255Selected Bibliography 273Acknowledgments 277Index 279
