Living with Cannibals and Other Women's Adventures Book

"The single most important discovery for women explorers may be the freedom that lies at the very act of exploration." It is fitting that the daughter of Anne Morrow Lindbergh pens the introduction to a collection that pays tribute to women adventurers from the 18th to the 21st centuries. In her foreword, Reeve Lindbergh reveals the intrinsic yearnings that unite the early female adventurers with their contemporary counterparts: the thrill of breaking new ground and the relief inherent in escaping restrictive societal boundaries. Liberated from the dusty shelves of the National Geographic Society and bound in a slim, portable volume, these 16 snapshots profile daring women from past and present, pairing them according to their wayward desires ("The Call of the Arctic," "Down River," "Where the Air Is Thin"). Helen Thayer's solo trek to the North Pole in 1988 is particularly powerful: "The feel of the wind lashing my body and face without mercy, and a savage hunger and thirst combined to make me dig into a reservoir of strength.... I dug so deep that I came up with reserves I never knew I had." In some cases, the accounts of the early pioneers are lacking in detail and correspondingly lack the punch of their contemporary counterparts, yet some, like the piece on Louise Arner Boyd, serve to highlight the freedom so treasured by brave independent adventurers: Far north ... are lands that hold one spellbound. Gigantic imaginary gates with hinges set in the horizon seem to guard these lands. Slowly the gates swing open, and one enters another world where men are insignificant amid the awesome immensity of lonely mountains, fjords, and glaciers. The adventure connoisseur may be frustrated by the brevity of some portraits as well as the brusqueness with which both tragedy and victory are conveyed. Ultimately, however, Living with Cannibals succeeds in fulfilling a greater purpose--to prop open the door for further explorations into the hearts of the world's most overlooked pioneers. --Daphne Durham Read More