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A review by caitlins_bookshelf
Wildly Different: How Five Women Reclaimed Nature in a Man's World by Sarah Lonsdale
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
firstly, a massive thank you to manchester university press for sending me an advance proof copy of this one! I loved it so much 🥰
we follow five women who fought to explore in and save the wild in the 20th century and they are! mina hubbard who, after her husband died exploring northern labrador, sets out on her own expedition to finish his work. dorothy pilley, a climber who completed several first ascents and fought for the right to do so. evelyn cheesman, an entomologist who travelled the islands of the south pacific collecting tens of thousands of specimens. ethel haythornwaite, who helped protect and fought for the peak district to become a national park. and wangari maathai, founder of the green belt movement in kenya, which planted millions of trees, and campaigner for women's rights.
this was brilliant! I'd never heard of any of these women before, but it was really inspiring to learn about them and the important work they did. they did things I can't even imagine, that I can still see the impact of today, and at a time when the wild was seen as a place just for men. there was a really fascinating introduction about the history of women's place in the wild, which really highlighted how these five were challenging that.
I especially loved the chapters on evelyn cheesman ! her entomology work was so interesting and I'm kinda blown away by just how much she contributed to this field. I enjoyed learning about the bugs she discovered and how she helped our understanding of evolutionary biology. the chapters of ethel haythornwaite were also particularly interesting to me as she was sheffield/peak district based which is an area I'm pretty familiar with, and it was amazing to know what an impact she'd had on a place I've visited.
but all five women were impressive in their own way, and I found it surprisingly moving too. it was also cool to learn about the little pockets of history that surrounded each woman and this, paired with very detailed descriptions of the places they lived and explored, made for an immersive read. I also liked the little links between the women dotted throughout the book, as it was nice to see how all their separate works complemented each other.
basically just a very well researched, informative look at five women that definitely need more recognition! it's out in march and I can't recommend it enough 🫶
we follow five women who fought to explore in and save the wild in the 20th century and they are! mina hubbard who, after her husband died exploring northern labrador, sets out on her own expedition to finish his work. dorothy pilley, a climber who completed several first ascents and fought for the right to do so. evelyn cheesman, an entomologist who travelled the islands of the south pacific collecting tens of thousands of specimens. ethel haythornwaite, who helped protect and fought for the peak district to become a national park. and wangari maathai, founder of the green belt movement in kenya, which planted millions of trees, and campaigner for women's rights.
this was brilliant! I'd never heard of any of these women before, but it was really inspiring to learn about them and the important work they did. they did things I can't even imagine, that I can still see the impact of today, and at a time when the wild was seen as a place just for men. there was a really fascinating introduction about the history of women's place in the wild, which really highlighted how these five were challenging that.
I especially loved the chapters on evelyn cheesman ! her entomology work was so interesting and I'm kinda blown away by just how much she contributed to this field. I enjoyed learning about the bugs she discovered and how she helped our understanding of evolutionary biology. the chapters of ethel haythornwaite were also particularly interesting to me as she was sheffield/peak district based which is an area I'm pretty familiar with, and it was amazing to know what an impact she'd had on a place I've visited.
but all five women were impressive in their own way, and I found it surprisingly moving too. it was also cool to learn about the little pockets of history that surrounded each woman and this, paired with very detailed descriptions of the places they lived and explored, made for an immersive read. I also liked the little links between the women dotted throughout the book, as it was nice to see how all their separate works complemented each other.
basically just a very well researched, informative look at five women that definitely need more recognition! it's out in march and I can't recommend it enough 🫶