Description

‘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.

Publisher Review

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 . . . Isabella inspired a generation of Victorian women to dare to be bold, and her spirit lives on -- Ruby Wax * Guardian * There never was anybody who had adventures as well as Miss Bird * Spectator * This book is an unputdownable record of a truly astounding journey -- Dervla Murphy * Irish Times * The adventure inspired her travel book, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, which became my bible as we revered this incredible woman in the Colorado wilderness -- Ruby Wax * Guardian * A forty-something British woman rode for 800 miles through the Rockies, consorting with pioneers, consumptives and desperadoes as she went. The result was A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, an instant bestseller at the time, and a classic of travel literature to this day * Independent * There never was anybody who had adventures as well as Miss Bird * SPECTATOR * This book is an unputdownable record of a truly astounding journey * Dervla Murphy, Irish Times *