When journalist Michael Booth married a Danish actress, he moved from his comfortable London world to Copenhagen and had to adjust to life in Denmark. While learning Danish he discovered the stories of Hans Christian Andersen in their original form, vastly different to the censored Victorian era translations we are all used to, not to mention the sanitised Disney versions. He finds Andersen to be an interesting, intriguing personality and also discovered his travel writing. To get away from Denmark for a time he decides to travel the same path that Andersen took in 1840 in The Poet's Bazaar on his journey through Germany, Italy, Malta, Greece, Turkey and back along the Danube River.
Along the way Booth discusses all sorts of interesting aspects of Andersen and his writing, his inspirations, quirks etc. Quite fascinating, at times Booth is a bit much, he gets a bit obsessed at the start with the question of Andersen's sexuality (over which there has been much debate to give Booth his due) but is also funny and laughs at his own predicaments. Overall this book just makes you appreciate and want to read everything Andersen has written and has been written about him. It's an interesting travel narrative as we are visiting these places in the 21st century with Booth, but also seeing them through Andersen's 1841 eyes from A Poet's Bazaar. I enjoyed this, Andersen was a complex character and I think Booth does a great job of impressing on us the 'greatness' of the man and his legacy. ( )