A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains

by Isabella L. Bird

Overview

'There never was anybody who had adventures as well as Miss Bird' SPECTATOR

'Venture deep into the Colorado wilderness, and you will find her long-lasting legacy in the community of people choosing to live a life without limits' RUBY WAX, GUARDIAN

'This book is an unputdownable record of a truly astounding journey' DERVLA MURPHY, IRISH TIMES

Born in 1831, Isabella, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes in 1872 'in search of health' and found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. A year later she took a solo trip from San Francisco to the Rocky Mountains.

'I dreamt of bears so vividly I woke with a furry death-hug at the my throat, but feeling quite refreshed.' The intrepid journeys of the indefatigable Miss Bird are relayed here in the delightful letters she wrote to her sister. They tell of 'truly grand' isolated wilderness and abundant wildlife, of small remote townships of her encounters with rattlesnakes, wolves and grizzly bears and her reactions to the volatile passions of the miners and pioneer settlers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780349007366
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	04/30/2015
Series:	Virago classic non-fiction , #789
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	938,086
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Isabella Lucy Bird (1831-1904), the daughter of a clergyman, grew up in Tattenhall, Cheshire. Early in life, she suffered from a spinal compliant and in 1854 she was sent by her doctor to America and Canada to improve her health. She continued to suffer from back trouble, insomnia and depression until, at the age of forty, she set off for Australia and Hawaii where her health miraculously improved. She wrote Six Months in the Sandwich Islands (1875) and climbed the world's largest volcano. In 1873, Isabella Bird set off for the Rocky Mountains; her letters were published in Leisure Hour in 1878 and later published in this edition in 1879. In 1881 Isabella married Dr John Bishop, who died in 1886. Other journeys led to Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880), The Golden Chersonese (1885), Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (1891), Among the Tibetans (1894), Korea and Her Neighbours (1898) and The Yangtze Valley and Beyond (1899). Isabella Bird died in Edinburgh in 1904.

Editorial Reviews

What a treat it is to listen to Clare Wille perform this engrossing narrative by nineteenth-century British travel writer and naturalist Isabella Bird. The audiobook consists of a series of letters that Bird wrote to her sister during Bird's travels throughout the American West in the late nineteenth century. Wille's wonderfully expressive tone, bright English intonation, and exceptionally clear enunciation accentuate Bird's extraordinary writing. Whether by a sharp observation, or a few descriptive sentences, Bird precisely illuminates her adventurous trips by horseback and train, the locals she meets, and the remarkable landscapes and wildlife she views. Wille's wondrous performance transforms this collection into a theatrical experience for the ears. Listeners should be forewarned of language employed for various ethnic groups that will offend contemporary sensibilities. M.J. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2023 - AudioFile