The Lady who Writes and Rides ..
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I was struck forcibly by 3 things in this book. One is that anyone should attempt such adventures at all. Two is that a woman should have attempted them in mid nineteenth century England, at a time when middle class ladies were perceived as so incompetent to take decisions and reponsbility as to be virtually half wits (try reading Trollope and you see what I mean). Three is that these writings are not merely travel chronicles, but some of the most fluent, evocative, sympathetic and compelling writing of any kind that I have ever read.
Casting off her ailments Elizabeth Barrett style, Isabella travelled the unexplored parts of the world, far-flung from her life as clergyman's daughter in nineteenth century Cheshire. Merely riding some of the rough cowboy horses she is given would be an achievement in itself, but she rides them astride, alone, up mountains, through rivers, falls off after her horse is startled by a bear and has to chase him on foot for miles, and drifts cattle when her host is a cowhand short. Her writing is fluent, achingly beautiful, wryly deprecating, hilariously funny. I defy you not to have a tear in your eye when you read her exquisite descriptions of the unspoiled mountains of Colorado, or not to laugh out loud when she describes her fellow travellers.
I apologise for the length of this review, it wasn't intended, but I couldn't dismiss this amazing woman in a few words. Read this book and be entertained and impressed by her intelligence, independence, resourcefulness, sense of humour, courage and modesty. Then find out this was only one episode of an amazing life and read all the others ..
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Entertaining and educating
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Evelyn Kaye gives a delightfully entertaining glimpse of what travelling was like in the 1800's. I found the book inspirational in that the subject, Isabella Bird, was determined to find adventure at every turn - and it really came out in Kaye's book. Well worth space on your home library shelf.
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Terrific book of courage and adventure
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Isabella Bird's adventures in the 1870's west are amazing. She travels courageously across the Rockies by horseback, alone, as a woman, and dressed in garb which should have resulted in her death from exposure. Yet she is very matter-of-fact about her travels, detailing a vivid life of Western pioneers - their isolation, their poverty, their difficulties as immigrants, in the post-Civil War time period. I'm surprised this didn't make the San Francisco Chronicle's list of best non-fiction books about the West.
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