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There are currently 30 member reviews
for The Discovery of Jeanne Baret
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Diane S. (Batavia, IL)
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret
I have to admit when I first started this book it reminded me of reading a college thesis, but the more I read the more interesting it became. I really enjoyed reading all the background material on Paris and the trivia on tea as well as the fascinating study of herbal medicine. Would like to have known more about Baret but the author explained that there is not a lot of her to be found in the reports send back by the others on the expedition. She was, however, by all accounts a remarkable woman and deserved more than she received by her mentor and lover Commerson. This book will appeal to those interested in botany, expeditions and strong woman historical figures.
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Susan S. (Middlebury, Connecticut)
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret
This was a well researched and well presented account of the events surrounding the controversial life of Jeanne Baret. It is unfortunate that there are few sources of information regarding her life, making this book more of an account of the life of her "mentor" Commerson and his exploits, with snippets of information relating to Baret making an appearance at intervals. The account read well though, the story of the circumnavigation and botanical exploits are very interesting, but left this reader hungry for more of Jeanne Baret. She must have been a remarkable woman.
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Pamela B. (Madison, WI)
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley
The book was not what I expected. I was expecting more of a "story", but the book is more of a history text. The historical information was interesting and helped explain why some of the events would have been perceived differently in the historic context. The information was hard to get through and I felt the what I wanted to know (the story of the first woman to sail around the world) got bogged down in too many details.
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Robert C. (Fremont, CA)
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret
Jeanne Baret, was a French peasant during the Age of Enlightenment. As a herb woman she had great knowledge of plants and began an association with the noted botanist, Philibert Commerson, and when he joins an expedition to circumnavigate the globe, she accompanies him, but disguised as a young man since women were considered bad luck on French ships. The author's research is meticulous, and so the book reads like an academic thesis. While there are some documents relating to the voyage, including the captain's log, many parts of Jeanne's life are undocumented, so there is a lot of 'might have', 'could have', 'must have'. Fictionalized, this could be a great film, but here it is somewhat dead in the water.
The published edition includes some black & white photos, but no map. I would have found a map most helpful, especially when they are navigating the Straits of Magellan.
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Kat F. (Palatine, IL)
A good textbook
I looked forward to receiving this book, as it seemed a good start to expanding my non-fiction reading list. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed. Although well research and well written, unfortunately it was very dry reading and had little to do with the life of Jeanne Baret. I understand this is due the lack of historical information about her specifically and women of that time in general, but I think it would have made a much better book if the author had "expanded" on the facts available and turned the book into a work of fiction based on true events.
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Laura A. (Jeremiah, KY)
OK but nothing exciting.
I found the book "The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley" disappointing. I had expected it to me more interesting that it was. The textbook writing style did little to draw the reader in. I think Jeanne Baret was probably a very interesting person and wish that her story had been told in a way that was as well. I would not recommend this to others to read.
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Janice H. (Savage, Minnesota)
An Awesome Journey
‘The Discovery of Jeanne Baret’ documents the story of a French woman who boards a ship as a man in the 16th century to travel around the world in three years. The author presents theory after theory of why this woman among all of theses men would not be safe on such a trip. Hardships she would endure ranged from possible gang rape if discovered by the 117 men on board to loneliness, starvation, and endless work hours. Only her employer (a scientist) knew of her true identity and he kept it a secret from all. Although rumors were spread early in the expedition, they remained only rumors for most of the journey. The author obtained my interest with the theory that a person” irrespective of the hand dealt by fortune, can have as much curiosity about the world as another.” Jeanne Baret was born to poverty and was destined to live and die within 20 miles of her home. Then “when she was twenty-six years old she would be living in a fashionable Paris apartment, organizing papers and preparing natural specimens” for a botanist. I particularly enjoyed the description of Paris in 1764 with its castles and royal palaces and consumed by a thirst for knowledge and trade. However, I tired of the author’s desire to document and analyze accurately all events on the ship’s journey and characters and found it exhausting to sift though all the he said, and who’s log said what (with the captain’s log lost). But the description of the thousands of seal lions sunny on the rocks and the new plant discoveries throughout the journey made it worth reading this book to the end.
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