Book cover of Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman

Book description

American journalist Alice Steinbach took a year off to live in four cities - Paris, Venice, London and Oxford - when she realized she had entered a new phase of life. Her sons had graduated from college; she had been divorced for a long time; she was a successful journalist.…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Without Reservations as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I absolutely loved this book and could have finished it in 2 sittings! But I wanted the book and the author’s journey to linger, so I paced myself. It’s one of my favorite travel memoirs ever. 

I have traveled to Europe many times and love it more each time I visit, so when I was taken with the cover, I was eager to share Steinbach's adventure. Sometimes I’ve traveled alone and know how lonely it can be. Being with Alice was a pleasure. I loved her voice and instantly felt like she was my friend. I’d been to all the…

From Marianne's list on satisfying your wanderlust.

Without Reservations gave me hope following the death of my beloved husband of 37 years. Living with his unique and nontraditional worldview, I’d grown into and inhabited a wider, less conventional way of being than my suburban middle-class upbringing had prepared me for. But once he was gone, what and who was I going to be? Steinbach’s travelogue goes to many of the places my husband and I traveled in England and Europe, and that brought reminiscences of great pleasure. But it was her inner journeying in search of her soul that gave me the courage to embark on the…

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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