In the following essay, Goldsworthy explores the introspective nature of West's travel work and locates its autobiographical elements.

A belief in the broader relevance of the individual voice, implicitly present in any (auto)biographical work, has meant that - until relatively recently - there were few purely autobiographical writings by women. Privileged 'historical' insight, such as that provided by high political office or military leadership, is still viewed as a prerequisite for memoir writing. It is hardly surprising that women writers continue to seek other outlets for a record of their own time and thought. Travel writing is one of the more obviously 'self-legitimizing' genres, which has offered women a space in which to inscribe their experiences and views.

Given the paucity of personal memoirs, travel accounts written by women - from the earliest ones, such as Lady Mary Montagu Wortley's Turkish Letters (1763), to twentieth-century examples, such...