The Luck of Thirteen: Wanderings and Flight through Montenegro and Serbia

In the early months of World War I, a young English engineer and his artist wife found themselves thrust into the turmoil of Serbia’s hospitals, battling typhus, tuberculosis and the harsh realities of war‑torn villages. Their diary captures the relentless pace of makeshift medical work—smashing windows to ventilate wards, digging drains, and coaxing a beleaguered community toward sanitation—while also revealing the quiet moments when a mud‑splattered car forced an unexpected pause.

That pause becomes a wandering pilgrimage across Montenegro and Serbia, where the couple follows winding mountain passes, bustling bazaars and remote hamlets, sketching and photographing the vivid lives they encounter. Their observations blend humor, compassion and a keen eye for detail, turning ordinary scenes—peasant women in bright costumes, mule‑drivers on the road, soldiers repairing artillery—into a lively portrait of a region striving to heal itself. Listeners will feel the rhythm of travel, the lingering scent of formalin in the air, and the resilient spirit of the people they meet.