The Women I Think About at Night

I. Night Women: A Confession I Night Women: A Confession
I'm M. I'm forty-three years old. On countless nights over the years I've thought about women-and it has nothing at all to do with sex.

I've thought about women on those sleepless nights when my life, my love, or my attitude is skewed, and it seems there is no end to the dark night of my soul. On those nights I have gathered an invisible honor guard of historical women, guardian angels to lead the way.

The lives of these inspiring night women have not followed traditional paths. They have transgressed boundaries and expectations. Many of them are artists and writers, people doing lonely, introverted work. Most have not had families or children, and their relationships with men have been unconventional. Many have traveled in or moved to foreign countries, and made massive life changes at an advanced age. Some have lived with their mothers their entire lives; some have suffered from diseases and mental disorders; but all of them have followed their passions and made their own choices. These exemplary women have been my plan B-the one I'll adopt if everything else goes to hell.

One of the women is Sei Shonagon, a writer and court lady who lived a thousand years ago in Kyoto, about whom I wrote my first book. But there are many others. Some nights I lie awake thinking about Frida Kahlo, whose biography I read when I was eighteen. It transformed how I thought about womanhood. Other nights I think about Georgia O'Keeffe, who wound up alone in the New Mexico desert painting buffalo skulls and making her first trip around the world when she was in her seventies. I think about Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese woman who, deciding to become an artist, wrote to Georgia O'Keeffe to ask her advice, and later, after shaking up the New York art world in the sixties, returned to Tokyo and asked to be allowed to live in a psychiatric hospital. I think of Karen Blixen, who followed her husband to Africa and ended up

Mia Kankimäki has worked with books all her life: she has a master's degree in comparative literature from the University of Helsinki, and she has worked as a copywriter and editor at various publishing houses. Her travels in Tanzania, Kenya, Italy, and Japan in the footsteps of inspirational, historical female figures inspired her book The Women I Think About at Night. When not traveling for her next book project, Mia Kankimäki lives in Helsinki, Finland.

"[A]stute, entertaining....This insightful book will appeal to adventure enthusiasts and be an inspiration for those with an eye on hitting their stride later in life."--Publisher's Weekly

"A thought-provoking blend of history, biography, women's studies, and travelog, this should appeal to readers interested in any of these subjects, and those who love eclectic narrative nonfiction."--Library Journal

"[E]nlightening...[A] patchwork study of the many hurdles women artists faced-and still face."--Kirkus

"The stories are complicated and inspiring, and Kankimäki's experience unwinding each one to help understand her own life reminds us of the power of using travel for self-discovery."--TRAVEL + LEISURE