Diving to the bed of the Timor sea, reaching the summit of
Annapurna, encountering a madman in the Amazon jungle, suffering
shipwreck and kidnap on the Barbary Coast, hiking the Alps with an
infant in a backpack--these are just a few of the adventures
readers will explore in Unsuitable forLadies, a wide ranging
collection of travel pieces written by intrepid women
globe-trotters. These writings reveal that there are few corners of
the world that have not been visited by English women, and that
there are few difficulties, physical or emotional, real or
imagined, that have not been overcome by these same dauntless
explorers.
Here readers will find such well known authors and figures as
Florence Nightingale, Mary Shelley, Frances Trollope, Gertrude
Bell, Karen Blixen, Mary Kingsley, Jan Morris, Freya Stark, Rosie
Swayle, and Rebecca West. These writers take us to virtually every
area of the globe in every era, from Alp-climbing with Freya Stark
in 1950 ("The first time in my life I climbed with a rope.... The
happiness was almost frightening") to exploring Waterloo with
Charlotte Eaton in 1817, just after the battle ("The ground was
ploughed up...with the charge of the cavalry, and the whole
field...covered with soldiers' caps, shoes...belts, and scabbards")
to a trek through China in 1885 with Emily Innes ("I was suddenly
awakened by a great shouting and a great light overhead. 'A Chinese
festival, no doubt, ' thought I; and I felt no alarm.... I was far
from guessing what was the fact, namely, that my host had been
murdered a few minutes before") to Mary Kingsley's description of
shooting leopards in Africa ("Do not mistake this for a sporting
adventure"). Riveting, often disturbing accounts of historical
events appear, ranging from Florence Nightingale's thoughts on the
bloody Crimean war, to eye-witness accounts of recent uprisings in
Soviet Georgia and in Romania, where Dervia Murphy witnessed the
execution of dictator Ceausescus, an event that left her uneasily
satisfied and "shocked badly to be taken over, for the first
time...by pure hatred of fellow beings." And throughout the volume
are brilliant descriptions of exotic foreign landscapes, such as
Karen Blixen's writings on her home in the African hill country
("Africa distilled up through six thousand feet, like the strong
and refined essence of a continent"). Editor Jane Robinson
skillfully weaves the excerpts together with short introductions
that keep each entry distinct while connecting them by theme, time,
or place, and she includes a detailed map section, providing
geographic orientation for the reader.
An exhilarating journey through sixteen centuries of travel
writing, aboard almost anything from a Bugatti to a Bath chair,
Unsuitable for Ladies is a fascinating read, suitable for anyone
who loves exploring new cultures and landscapes, whether first-hand
or from an armchair.
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