Maiden Voyages: the amazing stories of the women who traveled aboard the magnificent ocean liners

Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them by Siân Evans explores the women whose lives were transformed by the Golden Age of ocean liner travel between Europe and North America. During the early 20th century as transatlantic travel was dominated by the great ocean liners, many women undertook the journey. Some traveled for leisure, some traveled for work. Some traveled to reinvent themselves and find new opportunities. They were celebrities, migrants, refugees, aristocrats and crew members. The ocean liner was a snapshot of contemporary society, divided by class. From the A-listers of the day like Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker, to the steerage who sought to escape poverty. Ms. Evans sets out to bring their untold stories to light, to honor their trailblazing courage. 

Maiden Voyages is an engaging and informative book filled with the anecdotal social history of the women who crossed the Atlantic. Ms. Evans presents their stories in an engaging and fascinating portrait of these women’s amazing stories. Stories of women who went to work to support families, to escape pressures from society and seek adventure. I particularly enjoyed the story of Violet Jessop who survived several sinkings, including the Titanic, to be nicknamed “The Unsinkable Stewardess.” As well as the countless stewardesses who dared cross the Atlantic in war time, even after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915  and became nurses on hospital ships in World War II. Ms. Evans also features the stories of the war brides who were brought to America on ships like the Queen Mary. I highly recommend Maiden Voyages. 

Maiden Voyages: 

Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them 

will be available August 10, 2021 in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.