The Englishwoman in America

Description

The Englishwoman in America is the first book published by Isabella Lucy Bird. It first came out in 1856 and it was compiled from Bird’s letters written to her family during the journey she set on from England to meet her second cousins in America.

Adventurous, outspoken, witty and free-spirited Bird embarked on her journey following a long illness. She had been long suffering from spinal cord problems and in 1850 she underwent surgery, getting a fibrous tumor removed from the area adjacent to her spine. A very long period of recovery followed and doctors suggested a change of scenery and travelling as a means to improve Bird’s frail health. She leaves England to go to Halifax first, then she travels on to Boston, Cincinnati and Chicago, writing letters home all the time. Her journey also takes her to Nova Scotia and parts of Canada – trips that are as busy and exciting as her stay in big American cities.

Bird’s travelogue is eventful, entertaining and very witty. She goes through all sorts of adventures – she encounters pickpockets, she stays at dirty hotels, she meets otherwise well-behaved Americans in the strange habit of spitting on the floor – and she stays honest and critical about everything she sees, offering the reader a very personal view of mid-nineteenth century America. As she admits it at some point in her travelogue, one of her objectives when travelling to America was to dispel the myths and prejudices about Americans and indeed, she does everything she can to explore this world completely new to her with fresh eyes, free from any bias.

The Englishwoman in America is Bird’s very first book and it describes her very first journey. Later during her life she embarked on lots of other travels as well, publishing numerous books about her explorations – if you like this book, you will surely enjoy the others as well.
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