Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea, 1820-1920

Rating:
Summary: The first thorough book on women on whalers
Review: Explorations of women's relationship to the sea are rare - but growing. This book is a valuable foundation stone. I know this because of my involvement in women's maritime history, which has become a new and important sub-discipline of maritime history. It has a home at the Women and the Sea Network (which I co-ordinate), based at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich UK. Joan Druett's book was the first to explore women on whalers - who were there mainly as wives and daughters of captains. I especially enjoyed reading about 'gamming' - the way these women gossiped with each other when they met, being rowed over to each others ships, dressing up, taking tea, exchanging presents. I also enjoyed her novel Abigail (Macmillan New Zealand, 1988), which is about a very spirited woman, daughter of a whaling captain, and her connections with the whaling industry, incl whaling lovers. Reading both books in tandem gave me a very good picture of women in that branch of maritime industry. Thanks. I loved them both and look forward to reading Joan's new book Hen Frigates, about women on non-whaling ships.