CBR 15 Bingo – In the Wild: The women of this book ventured into the wild spaces of pretty much very continent at some point or another.
In the heyday of European colonialism, social mores were constrained for women, who were expected to stay domestic and tend hearth and home. Despite this, many European women managed to go traveling around the world on just as exciting adventures as their males counterparts did, and often recorded what they saw with clearer eyes as well.
Truth is often stranger than fiction, which this book amply proves. Where else would I encounter a woman who sets off to bike around the world without an ounce of actual biking experience? A enslaved Hungarian woman who ends up an English noble? A free-wheeling American heiress who on her many adventures ends up queen of her own Hawaiian island?
With stories like these, it would be easy for the author to overbalance into sensationalism, but Roope manages to balance the compelling journeys of the women with the highly colonialist backdrop of the time they lived in. By grouping explorers not by chronology or location but instead by motivation (whether it be love, fame, duty, or the sheer hell of it), we are afforded a deeper insight into what their experiences might have been like, what they gave up and what they gained.
I especially enjoyed how the author leaned into the bittersweet nature of many of the women’s life stories. Living as daringly as they did, it’s not surprising that some of them came to bad ends, but equally vivid are their triumphs, both personal and public, and the satisfaction of their agency in a time which expectations for women were incredibly constricted. I fully intend to read as many books that the various explorers wrote themselves – and wish that there was a comprehensive list provided, because I’m sure I’m not the only reader who could use this!
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.