Mary Russell (1)

Ultimately, I found this a rather disappointing book. There are two almost separate elements to it: the first half consists of stories of women travellers from the 18th Century to the present day,while the second half takes a more analytical approach to topics such as danger etc. The stories of the women are short, barely longer than an entry in a biographical dictionary, and the chapters tied together by those who travelled over the same type of terrain. It makes a very choppy narrative, with little to link the women together. I feel the author tries to cover too much, and doesn't do any of them justice.
The second half, which is more analytical is, I feel more of a piece, but the tone is still rather uneven, and you haven't been given enough detail about any of the women to actually see these facets of their life.… (més)

This book reviews some of the varied accomplishments of women travellers, mainly focusing on Anglo-American women in the 19th and 20th centuries. All kinds of travel are covered here including sail, air, overland and so on. Perhaps more interesting is the varied reasons that women go traveling; some wanting to set records (mountain climbing and flying, for example), others accompanying family and others simply consumed with wanderlust.

While this was an interesting, brief read, I think that there are more recent forays into this subject which, due to their narrower focus, offer a more coherent story to the reader. That said, as a keen traveler (real and armchair), many of the stories here were amusing and inspiring. The introductory and concluding chapters offer some interesting observations on the why of travel as well.… (més)