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1 Beaverton Travel Writing- General

Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America

by Linda Lawrence Hunt

Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America Cover

ISBN13: 9781400079933
ISBN10: 1400079934
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In 1896, a Norwegian immigrant and mother of eight children named Helga Estby was behind on taxes and the mortgage when she learned that a mysterious sponsor would pay $10,000 to a woman who walked across America.

Hoping to win the wager and save her family’s farm, Helga and her teenaged daughter Clara, armed with little more than a compass, red-pepper spray, a revolver, and Clara’s curling iron, set out on foot from Eastern Washington. Their route would pass through 14 states, but they were not allowed to carry more than five dollars each. As they visited Indian reservations, Western boomtowns, remote ranches and local civic leaders, they confronted snowstorms, hunger, thieves and mountain lions with equal aplomb.

Their treacherous and inspirational journey to New York challenged contemporary notions of femininity and captured the public imagination. But their trip had such devastating consequences that the Estby women's achievement was blanketed in silence until, nearly a century later, Linda Lawrence Hunt encountered their extraordinary story.

Review:

“Surprising, inspiring. . . . Hunt skillfully brings this story alive.” —The Seattle Times

"Allows us to follow Helga Estby not only across the physical landscape of 1896 America . . . but across the country's social, political, economic, and cultural landscape as well. . . . Fascinating." --Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, authors of Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier

Review:

“A thoughtful discussion of the social and psychological factors that often silence family stories. . . . Fortunately [Hunt] has broken the silence of Helga’s story to embolden the spirits of future generations.” --Bloomsbury Review

Synopsis:

Helga Estby left Spokane Washington and walked to NYC on a $10,000 challenge. This remarkable story of hardship and suffering was long lost and only recently discovered by the author. On Christmas Eve, 1896, the New York World reported her arrival. What followed was an American tragedy.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
mariposamarie, August 29, 2007 (view all comments by mariposamarie)
Helga Estby and her daughter set out to walk across America in an era when it was believed no one of the "weaker sex" could accomplish such a feat. It should have been a triumphal moment for suffragettes across America, but instead, following a tragic outcome, her family burned her notes of the journey and tried to silence her and keep her sequestered in shame. But she had done it! Helga Estby walked across America! Her story deserves to be told, and Linda Lawrence Hunt does a fine job of acquainting us with this heroic woman.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400079933
Subtitle:
Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America
Author:
Hunt, Linda Lawrence
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Subject:
Women
Subject:
History
Subject:
United States - General
Subject:
Walking
Subject:
United States - 19th Century
Subject:
Travelers
Subject:
Norwegian Americans
Subject:
United States Description and travel.
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Anchor Books
Publication Date:
January 2005
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
8.06x5.22x.69 in. .67 lbs.

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