Browse categories

Parrott Pie for Breakfast: An Anthology of Women Pioneers

Format:	Paperback 192 pages

Available to order

Usually despatched in 2-3 weeks

10 Marketplace copies from £.67

£17.00

Delivered FREE
in the UK

Add to wish list

About this book
Bookseller reviews
Customer reviews

Synopsis

There is nothing quite like parrot pie for breakfast. First one must catch one's parrot, of course, and build the hearth to bake it, but that is all in a days work for the woman pioneer. This riveting anthology tells the story of over 100 such women spanning four centuries, from the lowliest kitchen skivvy to ambassadors' wives: emigrants who settled the wildernesses of the world in search of new and better lives. Many were lured abroad by the promise of work or fortune; some went because imperial duty called, while for others it was a most unfeminine lust for adventure that drew them away. But all faced challenges in their homes from home that were to test to the limit their spirits, their resourcefulness, even their survival.

Book details

Published
16/09/1999

Publisher
Oxford Paperbacks

ISBN
9780192880208

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

When the author began to research this book - to find women who left their homes in the 18th and 19th centuries in search of a better life - she was nearly put off the task by Harriet Roche and Mrs C E Humphries. These formidable ladies, who wrote of their treks in books published at the end of the last century, exemplified all she wanted to get away from: a disagreeable mixture of imperialism, patronization and parochialism. But when she came across a photograph taken in Australia - showing the details of the life of a pioneer woman and sparking her imagination - she began to get a feel for the real emigrants. And the book which resulted is a fascinating blend of extracts from diaries, letters and other lost narratives: this skilled and modest approach bears great fruit by conveying snapshots of these women's amazing lives. (Kirkus UK)