In Byron’s Footsteps

‘A book of contrasts, surprises and disappointments, written cheerfully and with eye for details.’
Vrij Nederland

When Tessa de Loo saw Albania for the first time, no foreigners were allowed to enter. Filled with a great curiosity, longing, and a sense of wonderment by this isolated land, de Loo gazed toward the mountains that stood like ‘the backs of patiently waiting elephants’ across the water from Corfu. Inspired by the famous Thomas Phillips portrait of Lord Byron in Albanian national costume, de Loo stole her way in and found a country suffering the hardships of post-communist reality and the constant and sometimes fractious clash between tradition and modernity. In the tradition of Bruce Chatwin, de Loo, the award-winning author of The Twins, has written a fascinating travelogue and a very personal reassessment of the life and works of Lord Byron.

TESSA DE LOO made her debut in 1983 with Girls from the Candy Factory and has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Her wartime story The Twins (1993) was an enormous success in the Netherlands and abroad and has been translated in 22 languages. Haus also published her novel The Book of Doubt.