The mysterious death of Leaping Lily

Daily Express 23/06/21

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This is a wonderful look at the women brave enough to be involved in this craft throughout the growing pains of the invention. And courage was greatly needed - every little mistake or new attempt could and often did end in the death of the balloonist. Add in the birth of the parachute and the ladies who would ride up and parachute down. The first parachutes were actually large umbrellas. Safety was not built-in. This is an intimate look into the lives of these brave women. This is a book I hope you will read and enjoy. It is one I will add to my research shelf. Ms. Wright did a LOT of research for us and there are several places I would like to review again and follow her trail back into those days.

NetGalley, Bonnye Reed Fry

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Lovely, compelling and quite moving read about pioneering female aeronauts. Richard Holmes' book ' The age of wonder', had an entire section focussing on the early pioneers in aeronautics, all those fascinating balloon enthusiasts. This book focusses on all the women involved, and there were more than a few. It's incredible to think that at a time when women couldn't vote, couldn't get a proper education, there were women who were willing to take to the skies. The writer emphasises the economic conditions driving some to this as well, it was a way of putting food on the table , better in some ways than some options available. However, in most cases, the women were active participants in the venture, and in deciding the mechanics of their balloon. There are some tragedies ,of course, this was a very dangerous thing to attempt. The effort put into this is incredible, and each woman aeronaut is memorable. The author quotes from letters, contemporary news reports, local reportage and makes for very compelling reading.

NetGalley, Vansa David

The Lost History of the Lady Aeronauts by Sharon Wright is an absolutely fascinating look into the mostly forgotten world of the pioneering lady aeronauts during the very early days of aviation with hot-air ballooning. I've always enjoyed reading about women in aviation, especially in barnstorming and WWII but this was my first time reading about on these terms. It won't be the last though since there were so many intriguing figures to read about and the lives were really something else. I have a feeling you'll want to pick this up if you enjoyed The Aeronauts (2019) starring Felicity Jones and Eddy Redmayne.

NetGalley, Lauren Stoolfire