The Broken Road

Although Patrick Leigh Fermor completed his famous 1930s walk across Europe decades earlier, he struggled to finish the manuscript for the final volume of his trilogy for most of his life. After his death in 2011, his literary executors Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper pieced together his draft notebooks to publish the book.

The book details the last section of his historic walking tour, picking up from the Iron Gates in Romania and continuing through the Balkans. It culminates in his arrival at the Black Sea and the historic city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).

The text relies heavily on Fermor's original 1930s diaries, which were famously stolen early in his journey but later recovered, alongside his later typed drafts. The editors had to weave together his fragmented notes with previously unpublished articles to create a cohesive narrative.

Yes, the narrative includes vivid accounts of Fermor's romantic encounters, including his deep attachment to the Romanian princess Balasha Cantacuzene. He spent months living in her family's crumbling estate before continuing his walk toward Turkey.