Two books about women Explorers
I'm doing mini-reviews here of a couple of books I read recently about women explorers. I picked up an actual paper copy of Off the Beaten Track last fall when I was visiting Banff National Park. A Woman in the Polar Night was a library book, one of those that pops up in the "if you're looking at this book, you might like these books" lists.
Title: A woman in the Polar Night
Author: Christiane Ritter. Translate by Jane Degras, read by Rebecca Gallagher
Publication Info: Tantor Media, 2024. 7 hours. First published in German in 1938.
Source: Library
Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads):
This rediscovered classic memoir tells the
incredible tale of a woman defying society's expectations to find
freedom and peace in the adventure of a lifetime.
In 1934, the
painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable life in Austria and
travels to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, to spend a year
there with her husband. She thinks it will be a relaxing trip, a chance
to 'read thick books in the remote quiet and, not least, sleep to my
heart's content', but when Christiane arrives she is shocked to realize
that they are to live in a tiny ramshackle hut on the shores of a lonely
fjord, hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, battling the
elements every day, just to survive.
At first, Christiane is
horrified by the freezing cold, the bleak landscape the lack of
equipment and supplies... But as time passes, after encounters with
bears and seals, long treks over the ice and months on end of perpetual
night, she finds herself falling in love with the Arctic's harsh,
otherworldly beauty, gaining a great sense of inner peace and a new
appreciation for the sanctity of life.
My Review:
I enjoyed listening to this book, partly while I was exploring Iceland! Ritter knew how to turn a phrase, and her powers of observation were strong. I was interested to watch her adapting to a life she had no way of envisioning before she arrived, going through a period of intense discomfort, to say the least, to an impressive self-reliance, to finally being unwilling to leave when given the chance and expected to go, because she had fallen in love with the landscape and needed to watch it through the rest of the seasons.
This is not an account of noble explorers--Ritter's husband and his hunting partner are commercial hunters, trapping foxes for their furs. But their knowledge of the Arctic is profound, and if Christiane Ritter never quite reconciles herself to the slaughter of the beautiful animals, she does come to respect and admire what the men can do.
My Recommendation:
Well worth taking a look or a listen!
Title: Off the Beaten Track: Women Adventurers and Mountaineers in Western Canada
Author: Cyndi Smith
Publication Info: Coyote Books, 1988. 290 pages (paperback)
Source: purchase
The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 opened the Rocky Mountains and the Selkirk Mountains up to travelers. Like the men, the women first came to enjoy the grandeur of the peaks and to study the natural wonders; later they developed an interest in exploration and climbing for their own sakes.
Off the Beaten Track is the story of fourteen women explorers, writers, artists, mountaineers and trail guides who were active during the period between the completion of the railway, and the Second World War--it was a half-century of feverish exploration. These women were a diverse lot, from a Quaker photographer to indefatigable climbers, from a passionate literary critic to confident horsewomen.
My Review:
These biographical essays are well-researched and well-written, giving us the women's life stories with an emphasis on the years they spent in the mountains. I was struck with the way botany was the avenue for the earliest women explorers to legitimize their wanderings in the mountains; many of them were also accomplished artists, since the mission was to record the plants.
Some of the women came to the Rockies for a few seasons. Many stopped hiking and climbing after marriage or having children. Several of them did not stop until old age put an end to mountaineering. One thing they all had in common, was that they were of European descent and came from the upper-middle to upper classes--the only class of people who could take holidays in the period written about. That gave them both their opportunities, and a set of limitations on their class and gender that nearly all of them had to overcome, ignore, or blast to bits.
An inspiring read. Some of these women climbed mountains in skirts or bloomers--mountains that I wouldn't try to go up with the best of modern gear (okay, I really don't like edges and exposure). Among them they made many first ascents, though usually accompanied by guides--experienced professional climbers who led most of the upper-class climbers. Again, those aren't climbs I'd ever have considered, with a guide or not, so I'm not sneering.
~~~
FTC Disclosure: I purchased or borrowed the books reviewed above, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.
Don't miss a post--Follow me!
Both of these sound like cool books to listen to. Thanks for sharing your reviews. I hadn't heard of either of these books.
ReplyDelete