The Discovery Of Jeanne Baret: A Story Of Science, The High Seas, And The First Woman To Circumnavigate The Globe (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Lots of "what-ifs" here. Certainly Jeanne Baret existed, but since she did not record anything of her global circumnavigation adventure, historical situations indirectly related to her are used to flesh out a supposed series of events. What Glynis Ridley writes may be true. It certainly makes for a great story. This book left me with more questions than answers about Jeanne Baret's life. It is regrettable that the investigative and collection work she did on Bougainville's trip was never credited to her. I gave this book three stars because I'm still glad I read it and learned about (another) woman written out of the history books. The writing itself, however, deserved two stars. I had such high hopes for The Discovery of Jeanne Baret, but unfortunately the book did not deliver. The author is a college level English professor, not an historian, and it shows. Like other commenters before me have mentioned, this would have been a great work of historical fiction. Instead, it is a mediocre work of non-fiction. Ms. Ridley took what few facts she could find about her subject and then filled in the blanks by using very poor logic and projecting 21st century feminist ideas onto the story of an 18th century peasant woman. As I read the book I was contantly wondering how in the world could the author know what was going through Baret's mind or what she was feeling when Baret herself left no written record of her own. History may have almost forgotten about Jeanne Baret, but that is no excuse for Ms. Ridley to take creative license with history just so she make things "right."
What do You think about The Discovery Of Jeanne Baret: A Story Of Science, The High Seas, And The First Woman To Circumnavigate The Globe (2010)?
This historical novel was throughly riveting.
—lara
Another story of a great woman, adventurer.
—fguardgirl
