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‘An elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry … A welcome
contribution to polar studies.’ Sara Wheeler, Spectator
‘[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill…takes
us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief’ The Times
The men of Captain Scott’s Polar Party were heroes of their age,
enduring tremendous hardships to further the reputation of the
Empire they served by reaching the South Pole. But they were also
husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. For the first time, the story
of the race for the South Pole is told from the perspective of the
women whose lives would be forever changed by it, five women who
offer a window into a lost age and a revealing insight into the
thoughts and feelings of the five heroes. Kathleen Scott, the
fierce young wife of the expedition leader, campaigned relentlessly
for Scott’s reputation, but did her ambition for glory drive her
husband to take unnecessary risks? Oriana Wilson, a true help-mate
and partner to the expedition’s doctor, was a scientific mind in
her own right and understood more than most what the men faced in
Antarctica. Emily Bowers was a fervent proponent of Empire, having
spent much of her life as a missionary teacher in the colonies. The
indomitable Caroline Oates was the very picture of decorum and
everything an Edwardian woman aspired to be, but she refused all
invitations to celebrate her son Laurie’s noble sacrifice. Lois
Evans led a harder life than the other women, constantly on the
edge of poverty and forced to endure the media’s classist
assertions that her husband Taff, the sole ‘Jack Tar’ in a band
of officers, must have been responsible for the party’s downfall.
Her story, brought to light through new archival research, is
shared here for the first time. In a gripping and remarkable feat
of historical reconstruction, Katherine MacInnes vividly depicts
the lives, loves and losses of five women shaped by the unrelenting
culture of Empire and forced into the public eye by tragedy. It
also reveals the five heroes, not as the caricatures of legend, but
as the real people they were.
'An elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry ... A welcome
contribution to polar studies.' Sarah Wheeler, Spectator
'[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill...takes us
to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief' The Times The
men of Captain Scott's Polar Party were heroes of their age,
enduring tremendous hardships to further the reputation of the
Empire they served by reaching the South Pole. But they were also
husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. For the first time, the story
of the race for the South Pole is told from the perspective of the
women whose lives would be forever changed by it, five women who
offer a window into a lost age and a revealing insight into the
thoughts and feelings of the five heroes. Kathleen Scott, the
fierce young wife of the expedition leader, campaigned relentlessly
for Scott's reputation, but did her ambition for glory drive her
husband to take unnecessary risks? Oriana Wilson, a true help-mate
and partner to the expedition's doctor, was a scientific mind in
her own right and understood more than most what the men faced in
Antarctica. Emily Bowers was a fervent proponent of Empire, having
spent much of her life as a missionary teacher in the colonies. The
indomitable Caroline Oates was the very picture of decorum and
everything an Edwardian woman aspired to be, but she refused all
invitations to celebrate her son Laurie's noble sacrifice. Lois
Evans led a harder life than the other women, constantly on the
edge of poverty and forced to endure the media's classist
assertions that her husband Taff, the sole 'Jack Tar' in a band of
officers, must have been responsible for the party's downfall. Her
story, brought to light through new archival research, is shared
here for the first time. In a gripping and remarkable feat of
historical reconstruction, Katherine MacInnes vividly depicts the
lives, loves and losses of five women shaped by the unrelenting
culture of Empire and forced into the public eye by tragedy. It
also reveals the five heroes, not as the caricatures of legend, but
as the real people they were.
Captain Scott's expedition to the Antarctic, the most famous story
of exploration in the world, played out on the great ice stage in
the south. Oriana Wilson, wife of Scott's best friend and fellow
explorer Dr Edward Wilson, was watching from the wings. She is the
missing link between many of the notable polar names of the time
and was allowed into a man's world at a time when the British
suffragettes were marching. Oriana is the lens through which their
secrets are revealed. What really happened both in the Antarctic
and at home? Why did Scott's Terra Nova expedition nearly end in
mutiny before it had even begun? Were the explorers' diaries as
'heroic' as they appeared to be? Only Oriana can tell. She began as
a dutiful housewife but emerged as a scientist and collector in her
own right, and was the first white woman to venture into the
jungles of Darwin, Australia. Edward Wilson named Oriana Ridge, a
little-known piece of Antarctica, after her on their tenth wedding
anniversary. Oriana Wilson has been quiet for a century, but this
biography gives her a voice and provides a unique insight into the
early twentieth century through her clear, blue 'iceberg eyes'.
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