by Celia Ross
First published 2019
Mark Twain boards the steamship Quaker City in 1867, bound for Europe and the Holy Land on what promises to be the adventure of a lifetime. The celebrated humorist expects to encounter fellow travelers as witty and worldly as himself, but instead finds himself surrounded by earnest pilgrims and self-important tourists. As the ship crosses the Atlantic and Mediterranean, Twain observes his companions with growing amusement and occasional exasperation. He chronicles their reactions to the ancient sites of Jerusalem, their interactions with local guides, and their determined efforts to have properly reverent experiences. Twain struggles between his irreverent nature and the genuine awe he feels standing in places he has known only through scripture since childhood. The journey becomes a test of his ability to balance respect for sacred traditions with his compulsion to puncture human pretension wherever he finds it.
Genres: biography, american-fiction, historical-fiction, american, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: culture-clash, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Europe, Holy Land, Jerusalem
Period: 1867
344 pages · Paperback · Independently published