Ahhh, the Golden Age of travel! It all seemed so glamorous, until it wasn’t. This book specifically explores the role of women on these early ocean liners. Before reading this book, ocean travel stirred up images of designer fashion, bottomless cocktails, and grand staircases. After reading this book, my views have become less glamorous to more realistic. I learned about the role of the stewardess and conductors aboard these ships, the lengths women would go to stow away in coal compartments to start a new life, the role of these ships during prohibition and the WWII persecution of the Jews. We do get a little celebrity spotting with cameos from Wallace Simpson and Heddy LaMar. This book was so interesting and informative, and written in a way that was easy to read.

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. I was interested in this book to learn more about travel via ocean liners by women over the years. It was such an interesting read! From movie stars to royalty to women working to insure safe transport for immigrants traveling from Europe to the US or Canada. I also enjoyed learning how service on board changed over time and how companies competed with each other like with lessons and shows showed by Olympic swimmers and etc. Enjoy the read with a cup of tea!

The beginning of this, with the background of the ships and crews, almost made me stop the book. I am glad I pushed through, but be advised there is some background building the beginning. This was not a topic that I would have pursued had I not been given a chance to read/listen to this story, but I was very intrigued to learn about these women.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

An interesting read that allows readers to get a glimpse of how women navigated ocean travel during the twentieth century. I would recommend.

I really enjoy learning about luxury oceanliners and the women working on them, but I (at times) struggle with non-fiction. The book felt a bit disjointed, but I still learned a good amount from this book that is fascinating.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC. Opinions are mine.

I found Maiden Voyages an extremely interesting and engaging detail on various women and the ships that employed or entertained them. Completely nonfiction, but presented like a historical fiction novel of short stories, I’d like to read more on some of the women described in its pages.

It begins with the history of the ships and the male dominated crew. I thought there was a LOT of detail on the history of the ships and not so much on the women at first, but then you realize it was a background for the entire story. Overall, interesting read, but a bit challenging to finish.

A good non fiction Historical story following women with their memories folowing WWI, WWII.
Very information interesting read.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Lots of history in Maiden Voyages, maybe a bit too much for me. The stories about the women were interesting and how it influenced the industry; lots of research is evident. The reader for this book is one interested in detail about the time and subject matter.

Maiden Voyages
Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them
Author: Siân Evans
(This review is from a Galley from NetGalley)
This account is a fascinating history and time line of the ships and the part women played with the development of the shipping lines such as Cunard and P&O .Until the middle of the twentieth century the only practical way civilians could cross the Atlantic Ocean was by some sort of ship, until the 1950’s through technological advances long haul flights were introduced that were affordable. Before flying replaced sea travel shipbuilders created advanced great ships but they were designed primarily to carry raw materials, produce, and mail.
Women were not employed on ships in the Victoria Era, by 1840 the Union Line, The Royal Steam Packet and Peninsula and Oriental line(P&O) regularly employed women to sail on their ships to destinations such Australia and India. Up until then it was believed it was unlucky to carry women in any capacity. In the 1880’s as immigration to the North American continent grew, shipping companies took on female crews. At first, they functioned as Chaperones dealing with personal hygiene of the lady passengers. In 1875 the Merchant Shipping Act required all passenger ships to have a Matron on board to look after the children in steerage. In the upper decks stewardesses had combined roles of chambermaids, personal maids and nurses. The Cunard line introduced the first lounge exclusively for women on the SS. Britannic.
“The ocean liner was a glimpse into contemporary society, divided by class: from the luxury of the upper deck, playground for the rich and famous, to the cramped conditions of steerage or third-class travel. In first class you will meet famous people like Marlene Dietrich, Wallis Simpson, Tallulah Bankhead, and Josephine Baker as well as the War Brides who travelled to their new homes in the United States.” (Cited from the book)
The second class carried a new generation of professional and independent women, like pioneering interior designer Sibyl Colefax. Down in steerage the journey of emigré Maria Riffelmacher as she escapes poverty in Europe can be followed.
The author also gives examples of some of the women who sailed in these ships, such as Violet Jessop a stewardess and nurse who survived the sinkings of the Titanic and the Britannic. The journalist Martha Gellhorn who often stowed away to get to the front line of World War 11 to cover D. Day landings. “The Golden age of ocean liners is portrayed through the women whose transatlantic journeys contributed to changes in society. ( author Siân Evans.)

A fascinating read that transports you back in time to the golden age of travel by giant ocean liners. The women profiled in this book were fearlessly strong-willed and incredibly resilient, even in the face of disaster and tragedy. Maiden Voyages is a fun and adventurous journey that celebrates the power of SHE!

What an amazing read on the pioneering women of the past! Maiden Voyages tells the stories and histories of the women who worked on ships. Some of what you read will be exactly what you expected, like lower wages and sexism and discrimination, but the stories are unique and informative. Definitely an interesting read.

I enjoy reading books in the historical fiction genre. This was a different focus for me. The historical information provided about ships was interesting. And while I questioned why so much of the book covered this aspect, I finally realized it was providing background. As more women began traveling aboard ships, it became obvious there was a need for women crew members. There were a little too many descriptive details provided so that the story became difficult to keep my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This book just really wasn't for me. I give the author props for all of the research that went into this but it was so hard for me to read. It just felt like I was reading facts and more facts. I did enjoy reading about the role of the conductress on the ships. That was an interesting part of the book. My rating is based on how I enjoyed the book. However it was well written.

In one sentence: Siân Evans's Maiden Voyages explores how women’s lives were transformed by the Golden Age of ocean liner travel between Europe and North America.

This was a perfect read for Nonfiction November! I enjoyed learning about the various roles women played in the golden age of ocean travel and how widespread ocean travel granted them new opportunities. This book is very readable; Evans did a great job dividing the stories up by time and theme; I ended up reading a few chapters at a time. I'm really glad that these accomplished women are getting their time in the spotlight!

If you are interested in social history and women's history, I'd definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Travel and history merge in this anecdotal historical fiction. So many strong and determined women. Loved hearing their tales and learning more From that time as well as life on the ship

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

I very rarely read non-fiction but I was intrigued by it's topic. The book was interesting and very well written. I learned a lot about the women who worked on the cruise ships and how things changed throughout the years. It was very informative and there was information on regular women as well as famous women. It covers a long period of time from the 1800's to after world war 2. The book almost read as historical fiction.

This book provides reader insights into the lives of women who served and traveled on luxury ocean liners. The introduction lays the groundwork for readers, detailing the history of the role of stewardess and why women took the jobs. Narratives of individual women make up the rest of the book.

This is an area of history that might be new to some readers, as it was for me. The book gives a glimpse into shipboard life of both passengers and those who worked on the ocean liners. It was interesting to me to compare the life aboard the ships to life aboard modern day cruise ships. I especially liked the narratives of the individual women, as they added perspective to the role of women on the ships and made the book more interesting.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I started this book shortly after reading a fictional story set on the Titantic, so right away I was captivated by the historical details in this book about the Titantic and other ocean liners that traveled across the ocean. My favorite parts of the book were the anecdotes about individual women who served as crew members or leisure passengers on the ships. Unfortunately many of their stories, in my opinion, got swallowed up by superfluous details about nautical travel and other minor characters. I would start to get interested in a person and then suddenly the author would be talking about someone else or giving me other details about ship board life. I didn't like that I was being tugged back and forth between too many topics. It almost felt like the author was trying to include every single fact that had been collected and was trying to squeeze it all into one book. Although the book's format didn't really work for me, I was still able to learn a lot of new information and am glad that I read it. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Another eye good work of non-fiction about women working on shios and how they rose in rank from WWI through WWII. The author is related to on the Cunards of the famous English Cunard Line so she focuses on the British ships. To read of some of the experiences of women employed on these ships was amazing, Sadly, many of the issues of unequal pay, lesser living conditions, etc. than men still exist today. But, on the happier side, the author points out to the growth in responsibilities given to women through out the last half of the 20th century.