MAIDEN VOYAGES

Sub-titled 'Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Travelled and Worked Aboard Them', this is an engaging and anecdotal social history which explores how women's lives were transformed by the golden age of travel between Europe and North America. Transatlantic travel was the province of the great ocean liners and an extraordinary undertaking made by many women. Some travelled for leisure, some for work and others to reinvent themselves or find new opportunities. They were celebrities, migrants and millionaires, refugees, aristocrats and crew members whose stories have remained mostly untold until now. The ocean liner was a microcosm of 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 A-listers like Marlene Dietrich, Wallis Simpson and Josephine Baker; the second class carried a new generation of professional and independent women like pioneering interior designer Sibyl Colefax. Down in steerage you will follow the journey of émigré Maria Riffelmacher as she escapes poverty in Europe. Bustling between decks is a crew of female workers including Violet 'The Unsinkable Stewardess' Jessop, who survived the Titanic disaster and Maida Dixson who reluctantly went to sea as a stewardess in 1937 and defied wartime torpedoes to escort evacuees to safety around the globe. And Austrian-born Hedwig Kiesler who embarked on the Normandie in 1937 and arrived in New York a week later as MGM's latest signing, renamed Hedy Lamarr. Here are the GI brides and their babies during Operation Diaper Run, newly married British born wives reunited with their husbands in America. Victoria Drummond MBE, Britain's first female seagoing marine engineer, is pictured with anti-aircraft guns in March 1942. Deck games, chic swimwear and swimming pools, formal evening dress, refreshments on deck, the interior designed by the Ritz Hotel recalling aristocratic country houses in the luxurious Aquitania and a poster for the Cunard Line are among the 16 pages of illustrations. 354pp with fairly large print and by the author of Queen Bees code 92482.