Keenan, Brigid 1939-

PERSONAL:

Born 1939, in India; married Alan Waddams (a diplomat), c. 1972.

CAREER:

Observer, London, England, woman's editor; Sunday Times, London, fashion editor.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Women We Wanted to Look Like, Macmillan (London, England), 1977, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1978.

Dior in Vogue, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Travels in Kashmir: A Popular History of Its People, Places, and Crafts, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1989.

Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City, photographs by Tim Beddow, Thames & Hudson (New York, NY), 2000.

Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse, John Murray, 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Brigid Keenan ended her career as a fashion journalist in London, England, to become the wife of a traveling diplomat. She documents her experiences in her memoir, Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse, which was published in 2005. In the book, Keenan uses humorous anecdotes to paint a picture of her time spent as a "trailing spouse," a term coined by the British Foreign Office to describe the wives of British diplomats.

Keenan spent thirty years traveling from country to country with her husband, living, according to her, a rather unglamorous, but nevertheless amusing, life as a diplomat's wife. In Diplomatic Baggage, Keenan presents "a wonderfully picaresque take on the travails of expat life," as noted by Katie Hickman, a reviewer for the London Sunday Times. From encounters with dangerous wildlife to failed dinner parties, the novel takes the reader on a journey through Keenan's many trials and tribulations in countries such as Belgium, Trinidad, Barbados, India, Gambia, and Syria. Indeed, Spectator critic Patricia Daunt applauded Keenan's "glorious sense of the ridiculous."

Prior to writing her memoir, Keenan collaborated with photographer Tim Beddow to provide the written portion of the book Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City, a record of the history of the ancient town of Damascus—one of the many places Keenan lived during her travels. Keenan's other books include Travels in Kashmir: A Popular History of Its People, Places, and Crafts, Dior in Vogue, and The Women We Wanted to Look Like.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Keenan, Brigid, Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse, John Murray, 2005.

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), March 30, 2006, Jonathan Sale, "Passed/Failed: An Education in the Life of Brigid Keenan, Journalist."

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2006, review of Diplomatic Baggage, p. 887.

Library Journal, May 1, 2000, Mary Morgan Smith, review of Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City, p. 108.

New Straits Times (Malaysia), May 20, 2006, Hardev Kaur, "Funny Shade of Baggage."

Spectator, April 30, 2005, Patricia Daunt, "Intrepid Sisters of the Service," p. 41.

Sunday Times (London, England), February 20, 2005, Katie Hickman, review of Diplomatic Baggage.