I'm typically a historical fiction fan because I love reading and learning about a particular time in history while enjoying a good story. But I really enjoyed this non-fiction book immensely because it not only provided a great deal of information about ocean liners and the role women played in their history but because the author did a wonderful job of weaving in individual stories of women who had jobs on the ships, from hairdressers to stewardesses to nurses. Since this takes place primarily in the early 20th century, the women were in more "domestic" roles but I was so impressed by the bravery, strength, and ambition shown by many of them, particularly during the war and economic downturns. There were also stories of celebrities and stars who frequented the luxury liners. There was not a great deal of technical data but just enough to give you a feeling for the power of these great ships. My only negative comment is that there was some repetition throughout the book. People were often mentioned in several places and presented as if they were being introduced the first time. But overall, I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Sian Evans for giving me the opportunity to read this book. Opinions are my own. #netgalley #sianevens

MAGNIFICENT OCEAN LINERS AND THE WOMEN WHO TRAVELED AND WORKED ABOARD THEM

Maiden Voyages explores how women’s lives were transformed by the Golden Age of ocean liner travel between Europe and North America.

Up until the twentieth century, travel across the Atlantic was done on great ocean liners. Like the Ritz Carlton of the sea. Amenities that bordered on excess. So many women made that crossing for a better life. Some were traveling for work or pleasure and job opportunities.
Of course, not everyone was traveling in style. The first deck passengers enjoyed the best of the best while the second and third class was quite different. But these women were determined to make the best of what they could do.

All the famous names are here. Wallis Simpson, Josephine Baker. First-class all the way. But the second and third class were less fancy. The stories of women who traveled the oceans and made a difference were my favorite. Doing a man’s work was new to both sexes and there was a lot of learning going on.

A lot of research went into this one. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

NetGalley/10 Aug 2021 St.Martin's Press

If you are a history buff as I am, you will love this maritime story about the beginning of traveling by ocean liners as they make their transatlantic voyages and the women who worked on them. This is a very well-researched and well-written book which is both very informative and very entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this fun read.

This well-researched nonfiction book explores the golden age of transatlantic ocean liner travel with a focus on the female perspective. From roughly 1910 through 1950, “floating hotels” like the Olympic, the Aquitania, the Queen Mary, and the Titanic changed the lives of thousands of women. For some women these were tickets to a new life in a new land. For others they were a job opportunity—a way to make a living and to see the world. For others, they were a networking tool and a stage to cement their image. Siân Evans explores all these situations and more on both a general and individual level.

The book is also a look at global events of the early 20th century through the lens of transatlantic travel. The sinking of the Lusitania eventually led to the U.S. joining WWI. Many of the “surplus women”, women who found themselves without marriage prospects after the death of so many men in The Great War, decided to seek gainful employment as stewardess and other onboard positions. In the 1920s, Prohibition in the U.S. led to a change in how and when alcohol was served on ships in American waters or those owned by American companies.

Although this is definitely a history book, complete with references to primary sources, it is very readable for the average person. Especially those with an interest in women’s history, ocean travel, or Downton Abbey-style stories. Siân Evans gives compelling descriptions of both individual women and general life onboard an early 1900s ocean liner. I particularly liked the stories of Victoria Drummond, Martha Gellhorn, Hedy Lamarr, Hilda James, Edith Sowerbutts, and Violet Jessop.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an Advanced Reader Copy ebook.

5 stars
I was unable to read this book as the file did not download properly. I was really looking forward to it as well.

Very informative read about the cruise ship industry. Really enjoyed all the personal stories of the women workers.

Evening gowns! Dancing! Men in uniform! A plucky young women fighting her way out of her caste! Downton Abbey!
I avoid much historical fiction because it seems to be window dressing for a formulaic romance novel, so I was hoping that this would be first-rate narrative non-fiction. Alas, that wasn't the case.

The writing was better than the most academic let's-find-a-publisher-for-this-dissertation, but not by much. The book is stuffed with details and entire passages seemed to be lifted from other text, so it never came alive. It seemed like the author didn't know how or what to paraphrase with lively writing. Mind you, I read the whole thing because I have an interest in the era and transatlantic travel, but I can't recommend it to someone with only a passing interest.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review. #MaidenVoyages #NetGalley

Thank you to #St. Martin’s Press and #netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I truly enjoyed the stories portrayed of individual intrepid women living and working aboard ships, especially in the eras leading up to WWI, WWII, and in the interwar years. From immigrants and refugees fleeing poor economic and/or political issues, war brides immigrating to America and Canada, these were fascinating stories. The stewardesses, nurses, swimming instructors, and clerks (later in the book’s individual stories) faced not only tumultuous weather, but in war years, bombings and sinkings. And of course, the lady pioneers faced immense difficulties in trying to move up a male-dominant workforce and values of the time concerning “a woman’s place.”

There were times I found this fine book a bit of a slog due to the general detail on various ships and general background, but the individual women’s stories were so engrossing—from those refugees seeking work in America after the Armistice and grim situation in England, to those of writers and wealthy.

I enjoyed this book very much as a whole, and some vignettes were hilarious to boot.

I enjoyed Maiden Voyage. The real life accounts of women working on ships between Europe and the U.S. This was a male dominated industry. Women became necessary due to the men going to the World Wars and roles were needed where women helped female travelers and children. I enjoyed the stories from the Titanic, the Lusitania, and the ladies role in bringing war brides to their new country and lives. The ladies stories were fascinating. They were working hard to break through the glass ceiling and facing some of the same challenges that exist today. Some of the cruise lines exist today so it was interesting to see familiar names. I could imagine traveling in the Golden Age on these beautiful ships. I am not a cruise person but the ships seemed special and classy compared to the mega cruise ships of today. They also gave a lot when they were needed in the World Wars. It does give a different perspective and not another World War book that are everywhere in the book world.

I would like to thank #Netgalley for #MaidenVoyage in return for an honest review. #SianEvans

What a interesting story this is about all different voyages across the big old ocean blue going from here to there in all different directions and different experiences that these ships traveled with different crews. As you read you see the different ships and crews that so traveled not only men but when women started traveling to see The world not only as passengers but as part of the crew. Follow these different women and see the world as they have seen it so very many years ago.. Very much research went into this book as you read you learn so very much of what life at sea was like at different positions of life so very many had the the experience to enjoy and learn from.. As I was reading I got to wondering what it would be like to travel and work on a ship and see the world way back in the day when it was unusual and unheard of for women to sail the ocean blue and get paid to do this exciting way of life!! A just read book for the adventure side of you!!

Impeccably researched and detailed, this book is filled with fascinating information about the women whose lives Impeccably researched and detailed, this book is filled with fascinating information about the women whose lives were impacted by the Golden Age of transatlantic travel and the ships on which they sailed. This author brings to life these extraordinary people and this important time in history. Skillfully crafted, this book is well worth reading. Highly recommended.

I received a free egalley of Maiden Voyages from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, the publisher's blurb made this book sound more interesting than it was. The author gathered a lot of anecdotes about women who traveled on ships back and forth across the Atlantic, whether for business or pleasure, but never fleshed out any of these characters sufficiently to bring their stories to life. It may be an issue remedied in the final proof, but I also found it disconcerting that remarks from the various women were inserted frequently without quotation marks, making it hard to tell whether the words were the author's or someone else's. In the end, I found myself skimming a bit just to get through what felt like a long term paper.

Maiden Voyages is a beautiful glimpse in the lives of strong and independent women who traveled the ocean on the great ocean liners. The book gives eye-opening accounts into the stories of women who would have otherwise been lost to history.

This is definitely a book I want my daughter to read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. Opinions in this review are my own.

Readers who enjoy a very detailed description of life on a ship will like this book. This is a very well researched account of this era of travel. The class system at this time is interesting. A little too detailed did me.

Fascinating book about the ocean liners in the early to mid 20th century. The book gave an inside look on various ocean liners sailing between Great Britain and US and Canada between 1910-the early 1950s We learned the stories of several women who worked on these liners and their roles aboard ship and among a crew of mainly men.

Even though it read like a textbook at times, it was truly fascinating to learn about a miniscule piece of history that is virtually never talked about.. stewardesses and female chaperones aboard the main form of transportation between North Ameriva and Europe in the early to mid 20th century.

Excellent researched and full of detailed. Anyone that enjoys women's history, 20th century history, or even history in general would enjoy this. It told from the British prospective.

Thank to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC of Maiden Voyages.

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.

As an event planner on Cruise ships this subject was very intersting to me. I found it difficult to follow all of the story lines as they were bit and pieces throughout the book. I wish the stories were not broken up. The old world of cruising certainly is intersting and needs to be documented.

Fantastically feminist stories of how women broke barriers and paved the paths for us today. This novel crosses socio-economic backgrounds and has us meet women from all tropes of life and reminds us that we are resilient.

Thank you St Martin Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read Maiden Voyages which I recommend highly.
It is a an impressive and extremely interesting well-written portrait of the courageous and intrepid women who worked and travelled on transatlantic ships. Whether they tirelessly provided for all the passengers on board at any time of the day and night, war or not or crossed the Atlantic to find a better life on either side of the ocean, their story is compelling but also entertaining. I enjoyed this book tremendously.

This non-fiction begins with the history of ships and the history of male dominated crew changing over time. As more and more female passengers were making voyages, the need for female crew grew. At first, I wasn’t sure why I was reading about ships instead of strong female characters, but later you realize that it’s the background for this story. I just wished the focus of ship history was straight-forward without naming all other famous ships and what was happening with them.

Then it brings the stories of different women from different backgrounds. Some traveled for leisure, some as crew, some to reinvent themselves on the other side of Atlantic. With it, came different class levels on the ship. The life for elite was very glamorous with all the opulence on the upper level. And the life on the lower level was cramped as it is explained that those passengers usually made only one way voyage for a better life on the other side of Atlantic and of course they couldn’t afford anything better.

The parts that caught my attention were of the women who worked on the ship and what their responsibilities were, and about women who came from central and Eastern Europe and traveled in third-class. However, I found most of it unnecessarily descriptive.

Overall, this non-fiction needs better focus. The style of writing is descriptive for me, but I know that others may feel differently, the ones who enjoy in depth writing.