Agnes Newton Keith’s Followers (32)

Agnes Newton Keith

Born

in Oak Park, Illinois, The United States

July 04, 1901

Died

March 30, 1982

Genre

Memoir

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Agnes Keith was born in 1901 in Illinois but grew up in Hollywood long before "Tinsel Town" became what it is today. In 1934 she married Henry ("Harry") George Keith, an Englishman whom she had first met as a childhood friend of her brother. Harry was on leave from Sandakan where he had lived since 1925 and where he served as Conservator of Forests, Director of Agriculture, and Curator of the Museum for the government of British North Borneo. Sandakan then was the capital of North Borneo, a territory that was an anomaly, governed by a company, the British North Borneo Chartered Company. Agnes accompanied Harry back to Sandakan where she was introduced to the life of a 'memsahib' in an isolated British colonial community in an exotic land. O Agnes Keith was born in 1901 in Illinois but grew up in Hollywood long before "Tinsel Town" became what it is today. In 1934 she married Henry ("Harry") George Keith, an Englishman whom she had first met as a childhood friend of her brother. Harry was on leave from Sandakan where he had lived since 1925 and where he served as Conservator of Forests, Director of Agriculture, and Curator of the Museum for the government of British North Borneo. Sandakan then was the capital of North Borneo, a territory that was an anomaly, governed by a company, the British North Borneo Chartered Company. Agnes accompanied Harry back to Sandakan where she was introduced to the life of a 'memsahib' in an isolated British colonial community in an exotic land. Over the next five years, Agnes documented her observations and experiences in a highly personal series of articles that were published in her first book "Land Below the Wind" that won the Atlantic Monthly annual prize for non-fiction in 1939. Agnes writes with sensitivity and humour, capturing the essence of colonial life from the perspective of an American expat and describing the local people - Chinese, Murut, and Malay - with affection and sympathy. As the book draws to a close and the Keiths prepare to leave Sandakan on home leave after five years, the ominous clouds of war are looming, illustrated by an accidental encounter between the young daughter of the Chinese consul, a neighbor of the Keiths, and the Japanese consul and his wife who are guests for tea at the Keith house. After their leave, the Keiths returned to Sandakan where their son George was born. Soon they were engulfed by war and the family of three was interned with the small British community, first in a camp on Pulau Berhala off Sandakan and then at the notorious Batu Lintang camp near Kuching, Sarawak, where Agnes and little George were separated from Harry until the war ended and liberation came in 1945. All through their captivity Agnes secretly kept notes of their horrific experience that were published after the war in her second book "Three Came Home" (made into a film in 1950 starring Claudette Colbert). Agnes, Harry, and George returned to Sandakan after the war and rebuilt their house that had been destroyed in the war. Their subsequent years in North Borneo were the subject of Agnes's third book, "White Man Returns.".
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Agnes Newton Keith’s books

Average rating: 4.15 · 1,314 ratings · 167 reviews · 28 distinct works • Similar authors

	Three Came Home 4.16 avg rating — 892 ratings — published 1946 — 51 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Land Below the Wind 4.21 avg rating — 280 ratings — published 1939 — 42 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	White Man Returns 3.93 avg rating — 60 ratings — published 1951 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Children of Allah: Between the Sea and Sahara 4.34 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 1965 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bare Feet in the Palace 3.70 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 1955 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Before the blossoms fall: Life and death in Japan 3.63 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1975 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beloved Exiles 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 1979 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	RARE 1947 1ST EDITION JAPANESE PRISON CAMP INDONESIA 3 CAME HOME FILM BASIS DJ [Hardcover] AGNES NEWTON KEITH it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Three came home (Time reading program special edition) by Agnes Newton Keith (1981-05-03) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Three Game Home 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Agnes Newton Keith…

Series by Agnes Newton Keith

Borneo Trilogy (3 books)
by

Agnes Newton Keith

4.16 avg rating — 1,231 ratings

Quotes by Agnes Newton Keith (?)

“We are not pleasant people here, for the story of war is always the story of hate; it makes no difference with whom one fights. The hate destroys you.”
― Agnes Newton Keith, Three Came Home

tags: war

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“Meanwhile, sitting in the lounge talking, listening to the radio broadcasts, we learned the pay-off. The world had not changed...Love of country flourished, while love of humanity withered; worship of God was present, and following of Christ was absent. This was the victory we had won. This was the world men had bought with their blood. This was peace.”
― Agnes Newton Keith

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“The freedom of my eyes to scan the face of the earth, the mountains, trees, fields, and the sea, without barbed wire across my vision. The freedom of my body to walk with the wind, and no sentry to stop me. Opportunity to earn the food to keep me strong. The ability to look each month at a new moon without asking, How many more times must this beauty shine on my captivity? I will never give up these rights again. There may be more to life than these things. But there is no life without them.”
― Agnes Newton Keith, Three Came Home

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