A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains
“What a treat it is to listen to Clare Wille perform this engrossing narrative…Wille’s wonderfully expressive tone, bright English intonation, and exceptionally clear enunciation accentuate Bird’s extraordinary writing…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. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
From sickly child to pioneering Victorian explorer, Isabella Bird defied convention.
After back surgery in 1850 and the recommendation of life in the open air, she finally looked her malaise and her pain in the eye and set off across the world completely alone.
In Colorado she covered 800 miles on horseback, climbing mountains, wrangling cattle, sleeping in snow, and finding herself drawn to a violent, one-eyed outlaw with a soft spot for poetry, known as ‘Mountain Jim.’
With the writing skills to match her spirit of adventure, she documented her journey in these letters to her sister, which were published as a collection in 1879. She was a true trailblazer—a Victorian woman of 4’11” in height with debilitating pain who chose to blow open life’s limits.
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