Markham's memoir lingered in obscurity until 1982, when California restaurateur George Gutekunst read a collection of Ernest Hemingway's letters, including one in which Hemingway lavishly praised Markham's writing (if not Markham herself): "Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night?
When found in Kenya by AP East Africa correspondent Barry Shlachter, Markham was living in poverty.