Unsuitable for Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travellers [Paperback]

Jane Robinson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0192802011 | ISBN-13: 978-0192802019 | Edition: 2

Real ladies do not travel--or so it was once said. This collection of women's travel writing dispels that notion by showing how there are few corners of the world that have not been visited by women travelers. There are also few difficulties, physical or emotional, real or imagined, that have not been met and overcome by these women.
Life is never dull for Jane Robinson's intrepid women. From an encounter with a snake in the Amazon jungle to shipwreck and kidnap on the Barbary Coast, this book includes tales of derring-do and great danger. It also tells tales of unimaginable hardship, including caring for a family in an ammunition cart during the siege of Delhi and a journey through Tibet that leaves its author childless and widowed.
There is no such thing as a typical woman traveler--and there never has been--as this exhilarating anthology shows on a journey of its own through sixteen centuries of travel writing. So get ready for adventure and excitement with some of the most extraordinary characters you are ever likely to meet

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Robinson (Wayward Women, Oxford Univ. Pr., 1990) has arranged her selection of writings by women travelers by geographic region, beginning with "The Continent" and ending with Central and South America. The contributors to this volume traveled alone and in company for many purposes. Frances Trollope visited Vienna out of curiosity, Margaret Fountain journeyed to West Africa to hunt for rare butterflies, and Mary Seacole went to the Crimea to work as a nurse. With eight modern and historical maps to help the reader keep track of the routes, this volume is fun to dip into. Maiden Voyages (LJ 1/93), an excellent women's travel collection edited by Mary Morris, has longer selections preceded by individual introductions, but Robinson's book is also recommended for travel collections for its breadth of coverage.
Caroline Mitchell, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The subject matter of editor Robinson's book--women past and present who, against conventional wisdom, dared venture off to see the world--is inherently interesting. And the concept of the book is on target, for in a gathering of the writings of women travelers, the richness of their collective insight powerfully contrasts with the male voices that have long predominated in travel writing. But Robinson's collection just doesn't satisfy. Served, in the midst of a prose continuum by the editor, only small excerpts from such notables as Karen Blixen, Jan Morris, Mary Shelley, and Florence Nightingale, we get a taste of the writers' experiences but not the nourishment of full-fledged adventures. The anthology seems rather a Bartlett's book of women travelers--fun but inherently superficial. It's a start, but be sure you have on hand for serious readers some of the books Robinson excerpts. Mary Ellen Sullivan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (December 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192802011
• ISBN-13: 978-0192802019
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are off on a trip or feeling restless - read this!, July 22, 2000

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unsuitable for Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travellers (Hardcover)

Jane Robinson is a genius - although many readers of this anthology might not realise it at first. She is clearly someone who loves her work, and her collection of travel books by women writers - she has, in "Unsuitable for Ladies" cut through much of the long travelogue and found pertinent, thought provoking and often laugh out loud quotes. And they are so interesting....and so relevant....and and...so darn interesting!

So many of the books she uses are either no longer in publication, or difficult to get - or ones you just would plain never have heard of.

If you are planning a big overseas trip somewhere - or know someone who is - give them this book as a present. Especially for women - it is just wonderful - putting in perspective 600 years of women's journey's around the world.

I'd also highly recommend her wonderful book "Wayward Women" which is a sort of mix between anthology of women's travelling books and potted bios of each traveller.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spunky collection, May 15, 2007

By 

Anastasia Ashman "founder of expat+HAREM, the... (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unsuitable for Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travellers (Paperback)

In this spunky companion volume to Wayward Women (her book about women travel writers through history), Robinson collects the global travels of women like Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Karen Blixen, Freya Stark and Jan Morris. Grouped by geography with numerous entries for each place which serve as a conversation between the region, the time and the characters themselves, the chapters are bookended by thoughtful selections in "Setting Out" and "Coming Home", indicating that the act of travel is and has always been a transformative force in women's lives. Sometimes reputation risking and life threatening, but often culturally redeeming and personally empowering, travel must be intellectually prepared for, and assimilated.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have Book - Will Travel, July 7, 2000

By 

Kathleen Di Gregorio "Charmed me" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unsuitable for Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travellers (Paperback)

What a wonderful find! The real-life adventures of women travelers spanning the past 300 years. Brave, joyful women who carried the same adventurous spirits in their souls as I do when I travel (real or armchair). Soul-mates found across the generations! I have always enjoyed reading letters and diaries of women but this is an extra special collection. I look forward to reading Jane Robinson's next work.