Maiden voyages: Awesome women doing awesome things at sea

I picked up a copy of Maiden voyages from this super bookshop I discovered, The Book Grocer, on a work trip to Melbourne. The book appealed to the social historian in me. I was keen to read about women's experiences on board ocean liners travelling between Europe and North America in the first half of the twentieth century. Author Sian Evans has a personal interest in the stories she writes about in Maiden voyages: Her great-great uncle was the Cunard Chief Officer on the Aquitania.

Maiden voyages | Published August 2021 | Read March 2025

Maiden voyages is absolutely a book about some fascinating women and their adventures on ocean liners. It explores the women's experiences as employees of cruise lines, as wealthy women enjoying the luxury of ocean travel, and as female steerage passengers in search of a better life. It is also a book about maritime history during a period when major social and political events changed ocean travel. Sian Evans has clearly done her research and I loved immersing myself in the world of the ocean liners through the eyes of the women's stories.

I have seen reviewers comment on the lack of insight into the women's stories and the gender barriers they tested. I do see that criticism although I think Evans did a good job of balancing the more factual nautical history with the women's experiences. I also found the exploration of the unique side of maritime history fascinating, especially the chapters that covered the Titanic and the Lusitania. Some of the historical events featured in the book are common knowledge, but I liked the approach Evans took, revealing some quirky stuff that I hadn't previously read about.

I also enjoyed reading about the women featured in the book - some famous, some infamous, and others just ordinary women. Evans delves into their range of experiences and roles on the ships, particularly during the two world wars, showcasing some particularly bad ass women in the process. Highlights for me were 'unsinkable' Violet Jessup, who survived the sinking of three massive liners (including the Titanic), Victoria Drummond, a ship's engineer during WW2, Edith Sowerbutts, who looked after unaccompanied women and children resettling in Canada, and Hilda James, a champion swimmer working as a swim instructor on a cruise ship to escape her abusive family.

Importantly, Sian Evans writes about the way that social and maritime history were intertwined in the first part of the twentieth century. She explores new safety measures to encourage passengers back to sea travel after the sinking of the Titanic, the influence of women at sea on the facilities and interior design of ocean liners, and the impact of war on shipbuilding and ocean travel.

As noted above, I do agree with critiques of Maiden voyages around its lopsidedness as it is light on the challenges the women must have faced. This does make the book feel less powerful that it could have been. I assume Evans set out to paint a positive picture of the women's experiences, but there could have been more insight provided into their struggles, particularly knowing what we know about the role and perceptions of women at the time.

For a history nut like me, Maiden voyages was a fascinating social history of some pretty cool women. Evans's dedicated research was expertly put together into a single book that I learnt a lot from reading even with my existing knowledge of the history of the period. There were lots of interesting tidbits of information sprinkled throughout the women's stories and I thoroughly enjoyed my reading journey.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐