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Reflecting on decades of travel throughout the Middle East, Asia, and India, London-born Edna Carr Green shares her insights and experiences on cultures and customs as she sets up her household on foreign soil. Accompanying her husband, an international banker, to remote and exotic locations during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Green offers a unique perspective of day-to-day living abroad in this light-hearted memoir that chronicles her journey from young wife and mother to confident and sophisticated world traveler. Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Bombay, Saigon, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur—these are just a sampling of the cities she describes in fascinating detail before the advance of technology and massive infrastructure developments, via consulting letters she wrote home to her mother and her journals. She candidly communicates the challenges of living in these isolated regions, including the poor sanitary and health conditions, learning how to overcome language barriers, and acclimating her family to unfamiliar environments.
Green's memoir reveals her curiosity and desire for new experiences as she eagerly relocates, arranging for transportation of two children, belongings, and pets, again and again. Often noting historical events and wars that occurred in the cities and countries to which they were assigned by the banking institution, she shares her observations on the impact to citizens and expatriates alike. She makes her nomadic lifestyle appear effortless and glamorous as she approaches each relocation with optimism, always prepared to embrace a new opportunity. Her story is of one who dares to wander and the discoveries made along the way if one is fearless enough to step outside of their comfort zone. In Love From, Green takes the reader on an armchair voyage around the world where she reflects on the complexities of differing civilizations and discovers the universal language of friendship.