This is one of those rare books that defy description, classification or summaries. It is meant to be a biography, and in her diaries, Benson records having met an old Russian 'aristocrat' in the Free Hospital at Hongkong, and Benson says she is busy listening to his stories to transcribe them later "in his own words," -- and after that it is for each reader to read, relish and and at times laugh out loud. A book ahead of its time in many ways, but an immense joy to read.