Customer Reviews

The Queen of Whale Cay: The Eccentric Story of "Joe" Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water

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Nonconformist is an understatement. Eccentric isn't outre enough. Over-the-top words do not adequately describe Marion "Joe" Carstairs. She was a breakneck ambulance driver in World War I France, a world record-holding speedboat racer, the supreme ruler of her own Bahamian island, and pal to notables such as the Duchess of Windsor, Tallulah Bankhead, and Marlene Dietrich.

Assigned to write an obituary of "Joe" Carstairs for the London Daily Telegraph, Kate Summerscale soon became fascinated by the woman who held sway in the 1920's as heiress to the Standard Oil fortune. This singular individual wore men's clothing meticulously tailored for her on Saville Row, favored female lovers, was tenaciously devoted to a small leather doll whom she christened Lord Tod Wadley, and managed to thumb her nose at almost every convention.

As Ms. Summerscale unearthed more and more amazing information about her extraordinary subject, she determined to carry her findings far beyond a terse death notice. The result is The Queen Of Whale Cay, a buoyant, highly readable biography that became a London Times bestseller and nominee for the Whitbread Biography of the Year Prize.

Estranged from her parents and disliked by a step-father, young "Joe" was sent to boarding school in America. Of this time her diary only records, "Left family aged 11." At the age of 16 she drove ambulances in France, where "Paris was heavily shelled....whole sides of houses fell down and people lay bleeding in the streets."

Returning to London after the war, "replenished, brimming with vigour and ambition," "Joe" and some friends opened a chauffeuring service, and took on "any driving work, far and near."

Galvanized by machines and speed, in 1925 Joe used her wealth "to commission the best motorboat money could buy." She was a daredevil on water, competing in races in Britain, Cannes and Detroit, where she vied with the famous Gar Wood.

Yet, racing was not enough. She sought even greater challenges by leaving England in 1934 to rule and reside on Whale Cay, the Bahamian island she purchased for $40,000. Upon arriving she found the only inhabitants were a black couple who tended the lighthouse. "Joe asked them whether they lit the beacon every night, and they replied, to her amusement, "Only when the weather's good."

She worked alongside laborers to lay a road from one end of the island to another. A store was built, and a large hole dug then filled with blocks of ice for refrigeration. Her home, the Great House, was constructed with the help of 300 men. It was a "sturdy Spanish villa, white, with red tiles..." From there she had dominion over a colony of 500 Bahamians, and entertained friends from throughout the world.

During the 1960's, as Bahamians became increasingly independent, the atmosphere on Whale Cay changed, and "Joe" retreated to Miami. In 1975 she sold the island for approximately 1 million dollars. Three years later, deciding she'd had enough of women, she invited a handsome older man to move in with her. Hugh Harrison "stayed with her as a friend and paid companion until she died." In 1993 "Joe" and Wadley were cremated together.

Generous, outrageous, at times a bold prankster, "Joe" Carstairs defies description. Her life defies fiction. The Queen of Whale Cay is intriguing reading, a candid portrait of a nonpareil, an incorrigible, unconquerable 20th century woman.

- Gail Cooke

While I find the story of Joe Carstairs fascinating, I find Summerscale's attempt at explaining this enigma falls short of the mark. I believe there must be many others with far greater experience as writers/biographers, and even some who knew Carstairs personally, who would have been better qualified to tell this story. Summerscale's naivete and general lack of knowledge about the period during which Carstairs made her mark is glaringly obvious throughout much of the book. Her attempt to write this story became an education for herself, worthwhile, but of no service to her readers. I would have appreciated more insight and less supposition. I also find her attempts to turn everything Carstairs did or made into a metaphor for self-imposed exile a bit hard to swallow. Carstairs was no recluse--she was quite the opposite; an exhibitionist extraordinaire.

Marion "Joe" Carstairs is someone impossible to forget once you've been properly introduced and this book is a fine introduction to her fascinating life. Heiress, racing-boat enthusiast, owner and lord of her own island fiefdom, Ms. Carstairs is brought to life through excellent research and exposition. A woman of great eccentricity, great talent, and great generosity, she amazes the reader with her boldly- lived existence and her determination never to deviate from her own principles, no matter who thinks what of them. Kate Summerscale has done a masterful job of putting many small and sometimes obscure pieces together to create a whole that is larger than the sum -- which, she admirably demonstrates, is what "Joe" Carstairs was all about. THE QUEEN OF WHALE CAY is both reportorial and whimsical, striking the right balance between the exterior world in which Ms. Carstairs moved about and an interior world which she held dearly secret from everyone except a little, foot-high male doll. In the hands of a clumsy writer, Ms. Carstairs' life could have been trotted out as mere burlesque, a novel diversion inviting smirks and ridicule. In the capable hands of Ms. Summerscale, however, the exuberant life of this wonderfully different woman shines. Marion "Joe" Carstairs would not have wanted her biography written at all, but if it had to happen, one suspects she would have been pleased with THE QUEEN OF WHALE CAY.

I saw this slim volume in the store and was fascinated by the picture on the cover - a woman dressed as a man with a little battered doll on her shoulder - "what in the world is this?" So, I started to read. What a surprise. This is the story of Marion "Joe" Carstairs, a Standard Oil heiress, a champion speed boat driver, friend to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, an unrepentant lesbian, owner of the Caribbean isalnd Whale Cay, and the constant companion of Lord Todd Wadley (yes, a funny little doll). This is one of the most immediately engaging books I've ever read. What a character she was, and what a life she led. "The Queen of Whale Cay" is an absolute charmer from start to finish. Looking for a little slice of forgotten history to while a way some time? This is the book for you.

The author makes the most of a truly eccentric life - American lesbian "Joe" Carstairs - who lived the life of a wealthy English lord and sportsman through the 1920s and 1930s- went everywhere, knew everyone- then gave it up to create her own truly bizarre island kingdom in the Bahamas. "Joe" drove an ambulance in WWI, was in Ireland for the troubles, burned a swathe through dozens of actress lovers across Europe, including some famous names of the day, drank and danced through the London nightclubs, designed built and professionally sailed schooners, yachts, racing boats...and the best part? Her only longterm partner in life, Lord Tod Wadley, was a little man DOLL (yes, a doll) whom she never allowed to leave her side for a moment. Wait til you see Lord Tod's photographs! No one could ever make this stuff up. The author gives enough historic and biographical background about Joe's times and the people in her circle, to make Joe's world almost as interesting a character as Joe herself. An unusual, hilarious, touching little book.

"Joe" Carstairs created herself from scratch (and a Standard Oil fortune). And what a self it was; she even invested half of it in the person of her engaging boy-doll, Lord Tod Wadley, who ought to have gotten equal billing. The subtitle mentions that Carstairs was "the fastest woman on water". Fast she certainly was, and not necessarily in the cheap sense. This forward energy got her record-breaking boats, an island kingdom, and her own way. A scrappily thought-provoking trip into the world of a true original.

An interesting tale of a very eccentric woman. Wouldn't you want to rule an island? Or better yet, fancy yourself the kind of ego that would need to rule your world. Truly fascinating. It makes you think about all the great life stories that never get told. At least this on didn't get away.

Nominated for the Whitbread Biography of the Year Prize.
A short but very detailed and interesting life of a woman who
had weath and no fear! She was also a hero in rescuing the sailors
of the Potlatch. An American ship that was torpedoed off Bird Rock Passage, 350 miles from Naussau.
She was poorly rewarded for her brave efforts.

I am enjoying this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes reading about life in the early 1900's. Joe Carstairs was quite a character and the reading is very easy. Great book.

It's easy to love the story of a true eccentric, and Marion "Joe" Carstairs does not disappoint in this regard. Born in America in 1900 and heiress to the Standard Oil fortune, she left home at age 11 and spent her youth adventuring in Europe--it is hard, in fact, to shake off the impression that she must be British. Adopting a masculine persona as suggested by her name, Joe raced speedboats and sported tattoos with a fake moustache and romanced a bevy of lesbian lovers (including Marlene Dietrich and other beautiful actresses). She preferred to live life in the fast lane and reveled in flouting the feminine traditions of that post-Victorian era. In fact, Joe took pains to create her image without necessarily being truthful. Aren't a good story and a sense of mystery always preferable to dull facts? But when the roaring 20s gave way to the more sober 30s, Joe decided to beat a retreat from the continent to the Bahamian island of Whale Cay (pronounced "key"). How nice to be able to buy your own island in 1933 for only $40K . . .

She took with her a doll, Lord Tod Watley, who was her closest companion for 60 years. Tod sported a wardrobe of tailor-made costumes, and there are many photographs in this book of him posed in various tableaus. He starts out as a young, boyish figure whom most might find endearing, but with advancing age his leather face cracked and discolored making him a rather gruesome figure. It is a bit pathetic that ultimately Joe could tolerate no human partner for long while always openly adoring him. In fact, the book intimates that in her later years Joe made have tolerated unkind treatment from others simply out of fear that they might retaliate against Tod in some way if she displeased them.

Long story short, Joe took Whale Cay from being a virtually uninhabited island and built herself a palatial home, then took care to develop the rest of the land for the benefit of others. She had her own little fiefdom going for a while. But age took its toll on her, and in 1975 she sold this topical paradise for just under $1M. (Google it, and you will see just how beautiful it is.) She moved back to the United States where she lived to the age of 93, at which time she was cremated along with Wadley and interred in a tomb by the sea.