Maiden voyages : magnificent ocean liners and the women who traveled and worked aboard them

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Title:

Author:

Evans, Siân (Historian), author.

ISBN:

9781250246462

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

xi, 354 pages, 16 unnumbered leaves of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Contents:

Dramatis personae -- Prologue -- Introduction : cresting the waves -- Floating palaces and the "unsinkable" Violet Jessop -- From the Ritz to the Armistice -- Sail away : post-war migration and the escape from poverty -- The roaring twenties -- Edith Sowerbutts and her contemporaries -- For leisure and pleasure -- Depression and determination -- The slide to war -- Women under fire -- Romance, repatriation and recovery -- Conclusion : sailing into the sunset -- Ships' names by "Lucio".

Abstract:

In an engaging and anecdotal social history, Maiden Voyages explores how women's lives were transformed by the Golden Age of ocean liner travel between Europe and North America. During the early twentieth century, transatlantic travel was the province of the great ocean liners. It was an extraordinary undertaking made by many women, whose lives were transformed by their journeys between the Old World and the New. Some traveled for leisure, some for work ; others to reinvent themselves or find new opportunities. They were celebrities, migrants and millionaires, refugees, aristocrats and crew members whose stories have mostly remained untold-until now. Maiden Voyages is a fascinating portrait of these women as they crossed the Atlantic. The ocean liner was a microcosm of contemporary society, divided by class : from the luxury of the upper deck, playground for the rich and famous, to the cramped conditions of steerage or third class travel. In first class you'll meet A-listers like Marlene Dietrich, Wallis Simpson, and Josephine Baker ; the second class carried a new generation of professional and independent women, like pioneering interior designer Sibyl Colefax. Down in steerage, you'll follow the journey of émigré Maria Riffelmacher as she escapes poverty in Europe. Bustling between decks is a crew of female workers, including Violet "The Unsinkable Stewardess" Jessop, who survived the Titanic disaster. Entertaining and informative, Maiden Voyages captures the golden age of ocean liners through the stories of the women whose transatlantic journeys changed the shape of society on both sides of the globe.

Subject Term:

Ocean liner passengers -- North Atlantic Ocean -- Biography.

Women merchant mariners -- North Atlantic Ocean -- Biography.

Ocean liners -- North Atlantic Ocean -- History.

Women travelers -- History -- 20th century.

Transatlantic voyages -- History -- 20th century.

Seafaring life.

Holds:

Available:

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... HCPL Katy	HCPL Book	387.243 Eva	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Maud Marks	HCPL Book	387.243 Eva	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Evelyn Meador	HCPL Book	387.243 Eva	Searching... Unknown
Searching... HCPL Jacinto City	HCPL Book	387.243 Eva	Searching... Unknown
Searching... MCML CB Stewart Library - Montgomery	Circulating books	387.2432 Eva	Searching... Unknown
Searching... MCML South Regional Library - The Woodlands	Circulating books	387.2432 Eva	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

In an engaging and anecdotal social history, Siân Evans's Maiden Voyages explores how women's lives were transformed by the Golden Age of ocean liner travel between Europe and North America.

During the early twentieth century, transatlantic travel was the province of the great ocean liners. It was an extraordinary undertaking made by many women, whose lives were changed forever by their journeys between the Old World and the New. Some traveled for leisure, some for work; others to reinvent themselves or find new opportunities. They were celebrities, migrants and millionaires, refugees, aristocrats and crew members whose stories have mostly remained untold--until now.

Maiden Voyages is a fascinating portrait of the era, the ships themselves, and these women as they crossed the Atlantic. The ocean liner was a microcosm of contemporary society, divided by class: from the luxury of the upper deck, playground for the rich and famous, to the cramped conditions of steerage or third class travel. In first class you'll meet A-listers like Marlene Dietrich, Wallis Simpson, and Josephine Baker; the second class carried a new generation of professional and independent women, like pioneering interior designer Sibyl Colefax. Down in steerage, you'll follow the journey of émigré Maria Riffelmacher as she escapes poverty in Europe. Bustling between decks is a crew of female workers, including Violet "The Unsinkable Stewardess" Jessop, who survived the Titanic disaster.

Entertaining and informative, Maiden Voyages captures the golden age of ocean liners through the stories of the women whose transatlantic journeys changed the shape of society on both sides of the globe.

Notes

SIAN EVANS is the author of several books, including Queen Bees: Six Brilliant and Extraordinary Society Hostesses between the Wars (Hachette UK). Her articles have appeared in many publications, including the Daily Mail, the Daily Express , BBC Antiques Roadshow Magazine, Coast Magazine, National Trust Members' Magazine, and The Lady. A freelance film consultant for the National Trust, she has an MA in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art, London.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Historian Evans (Queen Bees) delivers an entertaining chronicle of transatlantic ocean travel in the first half of the 20th century focused on the female passengers and crew members who stepped aboard such famous ocean liners as the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Queen Mary. Drawing on diaries, letters, and published accounts, Evans's sweeping history takes in the celebrities who frolicked in first class, including Marlene Dietrich and Tallulah Bankhead; widows who found work onboard; and aspirational emigrants such as Mary Ann MacLeod, who left Scotland in abject poverty in 1930 and became a "New World matriarch" as Mrs. Fred Trump. The liners also carried popular writers like Vera Brittain and E.M. Delafield to their lectures in North America, and brought war brides to their new homes in the U.S. Excerpts from the memoirs of the "unsinkable" Violet Jessop, a stewardess and nurse who survived the sinkings of the Titanic and the Britannic, and Edith Sowerbutts, a "conductress" who cared for unaccompanied women and children, provide color and drama, as does the story of journalist Martha Gellhorn, who hitched rides aboard a dynamite-laden cargo vessel and a hospital ship in order to cover the D-Day landings. Women's history buffs and readers who enjoyed Erik Larson's Dead Wake will have a bon voyage. (Aug.)

Library Journal Review

Drawing on fresh documents and exclusive interviews with family members and associates, CNN analyst Bergen (The United States of Jihad) limns The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden (60,000-copy first printing). From retired U.S. Army Major General Eder, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line chronicles 15 mostly unacknowledged women, from a Dutch resistance fighter to an American tennis champion, who made a difference during World War II. In The Gallery of Miracles and Madness, former Guardian journalist English shows how a Weimar-era doctor's collection of artwork by psychiatric patients inspired emerging artists, which led to a Nazi backlash against so-called degenerate art and the patient-artists themselves, who were eventually gassed in a run-up to the Final Solution. Evans's Maiden Voyages moves from celebrities in first class to professional women in second class to desperate émigrés in steerage--not to mention crew members--to reveal how the golden age of ocean liner travel changed women's lives (60,000-copy first printing). As seen in Costa biography finalist Kavanagh's The Irish Assassins, republican militants in 1882 Dublin murdered Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Burke--Britain's chief secretary and undersecretary for Ireland, respectively--which ended their secret negotiations to achieve peace and independence for Ireland. Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, Levine details the battle that raged between Frederick Douglass and President Andrew Johnson as The Failed Promise of Reconstruction became evident. In Once More to the Sky, Raab collects the 10 Esquire pieces he wrote between 2005 and 2015 about the construction of One World Trade Center, adding an epilogue and including Woolhead's four-color photographs throughout. In The Ambassador, British American biographer Ronald (Condé Nast) digs deep into Joseph P. Kennedy's controversial tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's (75,000-copy first printing). Former curator of timekeeping at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and director of the Antiquarian Horological Society, Rooney is the author to tell us About Time--that is, the history of timekeeping worldwide.

Dramatis Personae	p. ix
Prologue	p. 1
Introduction: Cresting the Waves	p. 7
1 Floating Palaces and the 'Unsinkable' Violet Jessop	p. 27
2 From the Ritz to the Armistice	p. 46
3 Sail Away: Post-war Migration and the Escape from Poverty	p. 64
4 The Roaring Twenties	p. 80
5 Edith Sowerbutts and Her Contemporaries	p. 116
6 For Leisure and Pleasure	p. 148
7 Depression and Determination	p. 182
8 The Slide to War	p. 220
9 Women under Fire	p. 254
10 Romance, Repatriation and Recovery	p. 291
Conclusion: Sailing into the Sunset	p. 309
Ships' Names by 'Lucio'	p. 319
Acknowledgements	p. 321
Picture Credits	p. 323
Notes	p. 325
Bibliography	p. 333
Index	p. 341

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Summary

Summary

Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

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