Pamela Robson

Wild Women is a collection of biographical stories by Australian author Pamela Robson about women throughout the ages who have defied tradition and the confines of their roles to lead extraordinary lives. I found the stories intriguing and some of them even amazing, but the writing style detracts from the lives of these extraordinary women by its clunkiness and colloquial tone. I appreciate that she strives to separate rumour from fact but the tone would be better suited to a pub yarn than a printed book. Nevertheless there are some great tales here about some memorable ladies.

The stories:
Queen Njinga of Africa
Moll Cutpurse-Elizabethan crime boss
Anne Bonny-Irish pirate
Théroigne de Méricourt-Courtesan turned French revolutionary
Lady Caroline Lamb-crazy lover of Lord Byron
James Barry-crossdressing military surgeon
Alice Thornton-Regency jockey
Louise Michel-Communard and humanitarian
Qui Jin-Chinese feminist and radical
Flora Sandes-Englishwoman who joined Serbian army
Kate Leigh-Sydney underworld Queen
Princess Eugenie Shakhovkaya-WW1 combat pilot and Bolshevik assassin
Bonnie Parker-bank robbing outlaw
Janis Joplin-sex, drugs and rock’n’roll… (mehr)