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133 reviews for:
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West
Dorothy Wickenden
3.38 AVERAGE
133 reviews for:
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West
Dorothy Wickenden
3.38 AVERAGE
Interesting story of two women in early part of 20th century who moved west to teach in Colorado. Based on journal and letters of the women and their friends and family. Author did a wonderful job of using these writings to craft a well-written 'memoir' and adventure story told within the historical context.
p12 "Thanks to the boosterism...of newspapers...railroads and stories of medicinal miracles in Colorado Springs, Manitou, Steamboat Springs, and Hot Sulphur Springs...tourism had replaced gold as the state's biggest lure."
p96 "Dorothy and Ros didn't know much about how women outside their closed social circle [in Northhampton] chose to live...a 37 year old woman doctor Susan Anderson was living alone in a log cabin in Fraser [CO]...tending injuries of lumbermen...and serving as coroner... When Dorothy and Ros were poring tea for suffragists in Auburn, their counterparts in Colorado were going to the polls...Although the territory of Wyoming had granted women the vote twenty-four years earlier, Colorado was the first state."
p12 "Thanks to the boosterism...of newspapers...railroads and stories of medicinal miracles in Colorado Springs, Manitou, Steamboat Springs, and Hot Sulphur Springs...tourism had replaced gold as the state's biggest lure."
p96 "Dorothy and Ros didn't know much about how women outside their closed social circle [in Northhampton] chose to live...a 37 year old woman doctor Susan Anderson was living alone in a log cabin in Fraser [CO]...tending injuries of lumbermen...and serving as coroner... When Dorothy and Ros were poring tea for suffragists in Auburn, their counterparts in Colorado were going to the polls...Although the territory of Wyoming had granted women the vote twenty-four years earlier, Colorado was the first state."
Nothing Daunted follows Rosamond Underwood and Dorothy Woodruff, two socialites, during their personally momentous year of 1916. Venturing from Auburn, New York to Elkhead, Colorado, Underwood and Woodruff take a year-long position as schoolteachers at a tiny homestead school, postponing marriage, motherhood, and other societal expectations to try their hand at a profession in a newly developing territory. The year turns out to be among the most memorable of their lives, and author Wickenden (Woodruff's granddaughter) creates a snapshot of the impact work, community, independence, and friendship can have on a long life. She also provides a lasting document for a bygone place and culture, one that was so transitional in nature that it was bound to be fleeting.
Throughout the book, I wanted a little more immediacy--there are very few scenes in this book, and it often has a "book report/family report" type of feel. That may be the very nature of the author being related to one of the protagonists, but still...as a reader, I wanted such a rich adventure story to be a bit more gripping. The tone is always even keel and perfectly pleasant, even when there is real danger at stake. (What an author like Laura Hillenbrand could have done with this source material!) I also wanted a bit more overt attention paid to the issues of class and gender: For example, the protagonists' privilege and constraints are presented as gospel, and I'm guessing including other perspectives could have given a more thorough and edifying view to this high-level look at American frontier life in the pre-war era.
Throughout the book, I wanted a little more immediacy--there are very few scenes in this book, and it often has a "book report/family report" type of feel. That may be the very nature of the author being related to one of the protagonists, but still...as a reader, I wanted such a rich adventure story to be a bit more gripping. The tone is always even keel and perfectly pleasant, even when there is real danger at stake. (What an author like Laura Hillenbrand could have done with this source material!) I also wanted a bit more overt attention paid to the issues of class and gender: For example, the protagonists' privilege and constraints are presented as gospel, and I'm guessing including other perspectives could have given a more thorough and edifying view to this high-level look at American frontier life in the pre-war era.
Delightful story of two plucky women vs. the Colorado west. Really fun read & recommended for anyone who enjoys reading about victorian women standing up for themselves / resisting social mores... Nice use of historical archives & family heirlooms to add depth to a truly dynamic tale!
This is definitely a well researched book. And, when reading it, it seemed like I was reading research and facts put together in a somewhat choppy manner. I did enjoy reading about Dorothy and Ros, but had to endure lots of information about Colorado, Paris (and more) that were peppered throughout.
An interesting story of two wealthy girls who, after doing their grand tour of Europe, were not ready to marry and settle down. Though they had no experience of "roughing it" or of teaching, they applied to become frontier school teachers in the Elkshead mountains in Colorado.
After a crash course in teaching and review in a few subjects they headed out west. They boarded with a family and traveled every day by horseback to the schoolhouse--in pouring rain, blinding blizzards and sunny spring days where the slippery mud was almost knee-deep. The book tells of the difficulties the subsistence-level farmers faced in the arid, cold climate; students who came in rags and bare feet because they wanted to learn; and history of the area, including the building of the Moffat Trail, a railroad through (literally) the mountains.
This snapshot of life in 1916 made me appreciate what we have now--labor saving devices like washing machines and nearby grocery stores, but also what our society often is missing: friends who would go to great lengths to lend a hand, farmers and ranchers who would welcome strangers with a meal and a bed.
After a crash course in teaching and review in a few subjects they headed out west. They boarded with a family and traveled every day by horseback to the schoolhouse--in pouring rain, blinding blizzards and sunny spring days where the slippery mud was almost knee-deep. The book tells of the difficulties the subsistence-level farmers faced in the arid, cold climate; students who came in rags and bare feet because they wanted to learn; and history of the area, including the building of the Moffat Trail, a railroad through (literally) the mountains.
This snapshot of life in 1916 made me appreciate what we have now--labor saving devices like washing machines and nearby grocery stores, but also what our society often is missing: friends who would go to great lengths to lend a hand, farmers and ranchers who would welcome strangers with a meal and a bed.
I am personally familiar with this area and have family that lived here just after the period of the book. I think parts of the book were very well written and captivating while others were forced, including some of the background or descriptions of a picture that wasn't included. It also would have been better if it had followed a chronological order instead of jumping around. I understand the constraints of writing a historically accurate piece of non-fiction, but wish that more pictures could have been included and the writing a bit smoother in some parts.
This was an ok book. I read it because I thought it would sort of be like One Thousand White Women which I loved. It was like it in the aspect that it was historical and was like a diary or letters but not nearly as good. I did like parts of it but it took me a long time to get through and was confusing at times.
I love a good local history book, and this tried really hard but I found the writing to be lacking. Still I read it over the weekend and enjoyed hearing about the courage of two women in 1916 striking out to the wild west to teach for a year. It would have gotten a higher rating but the writing was poor enough that I had trouble keeping track of the narrative but the local history was informative and fun. Sort of recommend it for easy airport reading or the like but its not as good as say "The Big Burn".
This book was a reminder why I have such a hard time not finishing a book. The story of the ladies time out West doesn't get started until around page 100. The beginning seemed to me a who's who in Eastern society that I wasn't interested in and didn't seem to relate to the story I was interested in, their time as teacher. The information in this part did not flow well and seemed all over the place.
I found the story of their time out in CO very interesting and well written. I was able to get into the story and imagine the lives of the community and the teachers. Their story is different than many because they were ladies of society who had unlimited financial resources and were well connected. I noticed the author's perspective, as well as that portrayed by teachers, was quite different from mine - having grown up in the West.
I found the story of their time out in CO very interesting and well written. I was able to get into the story and imagine the lives of the community and the teachers. Their story is different than many because they were ladies of society who had unlimited financial resources and were well connected. I noticed the author's perspective, as well as that portrayed by teachers, was quite different from mine - having grown up in the West.
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced