{"title":"Gwen Maka","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"riding-with-ghosts-book-gwen-maka-9781903070772","title":"Riding with Ghosts","description":"Riding with Ghosts is Gwen's frank but never too serious account of her 7,500 mile cyclling tour","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49511312195857,"sku":"GOR004342355","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50402092548369,"sku":"CIN1903070775G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51591253688593,"sku":"GOR013493492","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53223215399185,"sku":"GOR003677423","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1903070775.jpg?v=1763805791"},{"product_id":"riding-with-ghosts-book-gwen-maka-9781903070093","title":"Riding with Ghosts","description":"Her three sons grown and fled the nest, the forty-something Gwen Maka was living a happily chaotic life teaching English to spoiled rich kids in Istanbul, when she happened to glance at a friend's atlas. In an instant, she decided to cycle from Seattle to Panama. In this second part of her adventure, Gwen faces even greater challenges, trials, feats of endurance, weird and wonderful encounters, throughout her hazardous solo ride through the lands of the Conquistadors. She explores the towns, the ruins of earlier civilisations, the deserts, jungles, mountains, highways and byways of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, all the way to Costa Rica. Everywhere she goes, Gwen is peculiarly sensitive to the vibrations of the dramatic (and brutal) past as it hangs shimmering, but invisible to most, in the tropical air and on the ancient stones. She breathes the same exciting life into every aspect of her journey. The scenic and nature descriptions are poetry; the poignant human consequences of present day economic realities and political catastrophes wring the heart. Yet she remains remarkably clear-eyed, and constantly alert for any trace of false sentiment. She is a sworn life member of the Anti-smugness Patrol, and a merciless de-bunker of any who offend, including herself.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49615668150545,"sku":"GOR002314627","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49635887022353,"sku":"GOR002606116","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53208230330641,"sku":"GOR007003175","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1903070090.jpg?v=1750834632"},{"product_id":"riding-with-ghosts-book-gwen-maka-9781903070000","title":"Riding with Ghosts","description":"This is the frank, often outrageous, account of a forty-something Englishwoman's epic 4,000 mile cycle ride from Seattle to Mexico, via the snow-covered Rocky Mountains. She travels the length and breadth of the American West, mostly alone and camping in the wild.  She runs appalling risks and copes in a gutsy, hilarious way with exhaustion, climatic extremes, dangerous animals, eccentrics, lechers and a permanently saddle-sore bum. We share her deep involvement with the West's pioneering past, and with the strong, often tragic traces history has left lingering on the land.  When she rides the faded trails of the vanished American Indian nations she displays an almost psychic sensitivity to the atmosphere of the spectacular landscape, as if all the dramatic and poignant moments of its vibrant past are hanging invisibly in the air, only waiting for her to conjure them up vividly - sometimes with humour and frequently with passion. As she travels, the ghosts of Lewis and Clark, Chief Joseph and Geronimo, Custer and Crazy Horse - all the legendary figures of the Old West, ride with her. We feel their presence constantly, and every now and then we almost catch a glimpse of them, just beyond the corner of our eye.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52858734444817,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52858734575889,"sku":"GOR002007519","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781903070000.jpg?v=1765125641"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-gwen-maka.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}