Patrick Leigh Fermor, Paul Morand and Rumania

Abstract

The ‘Great Trudge’ of 1933-1934 allowed Patrick Leigh Fermor to discover Rumania, which would later be evoked in Between the Woods and the Water (1986) and The Broken Road (2013). It was in Bucharest that the young Englishman made the life-changing discovery of a Francophile and aristocratic milieu which was also frequented by an established writer and diplomat, Paul Morand (1888-1976), himself married to a former Rumanian princess. Despite such an overlap of life and work, these major figures of travel writing have, until now, escaped comparison. Drawing upon published sources, but also the authors’ private papers, we will therefore explore these visitors’ representations of Rumania and the evolution of their long and passionate relationship with that country. Striking similarities apart, the biggest difference between these two travellers is, we argue, the time and purpose of their writing.