WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE

With her travel formation of So Near And Yet So Far (1955) Emily goes still further- to Greece, and home via Italy, Yugoslavia and England, and while the tone is toujours gai, this is on the whole more substantial, keyed by her susceptibility to the beauty of a part of an old world observed for the first time. The executive Sophy with her shoebag (her built-in bar), Luz and her camera, and the equable Dorn accompany her. There is an impressive welcome in Piracus and/they go on to view Athens, Delphi, Mycenae, Chios and Rhodes. Emily is at old times alert to temples and ruins as well as restaurants, taverns and shops; history is filled in casually along with the incidentals of their travels; she is held incommunicado in Yugoslavia over a suspect Scrabble set; and she moves on to London to be the guest of Mme. Pandit. With the capable Sophy, they take a week's boat trip on the Thames after only ""one hour's tutoring"" and this has its eventful episodes- probably the most amusing in the book.... All in all, this will be welcomed, by prospective tourists as well as her preordained audience.