The Petticoat Expeditions

Narrated by Helena Bonham-Carter, this gorgeous tape recounts the stories of three British women who traveled to the Canadian wilderness at different points during the 19th century. Author Anna Jameson escaped a loveless marriage in 1836 by taking a two-month journey to small Canadian villages, the Great Lakes, and Indian territory, where her principal goal was to "record the conditions of women in savage life," none of whom, she noted, was happy in her new home or country. Painter Frances Hopkins accompanied her husband, an official with the Hudson's Bay Company, on many fur-trading expeditions throughout the 1860s, where she sketched and painted the details of the canoeists' way of life. And despite her position in Scottish high society, social activist Ishbel Aberdeen was deeply involved in helping alleviate the extreme difficulties of Canadian pioneer life after she and her family moved to British Columbia in 1890. Via strong dramatizations, poignantly stunning cinematography, and a sampling of each woman's own creative output, these inspiring portraits reveal much about the North American settlement/displacement process and the courage of those who chronicled and improved it. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (K. Glaser)