Bold Spirit
Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Pat Stien
About this listen
Hoping to win the wager and save her family's farm, Helga and her teenaged daughter Clara, armed with little more than a compass, red-pepper spray, a revolver, and Clara's curling iron, set out on foot from Eastern Washington.
Their route would pass through 14 states, but they were not allowed to carry more than five dollars each. As they visited Indian reservations, Western boomtowns, remote ranches, and local civic leaders, they confronted snowstorms, hunger, thieves, and mountain lions with equal aplomb.
Their treacherous and inspirational journey to New York challenged contemporary notions of femininity and captured the public's imagination. But their trip had such devastating consequences that the Estby women's achievement was blanketed in silence until, nearly a century later, when Linda Lawrence Hunt encountered their extraordinary story.
©2005 Linda Lawrence Hunt (P)2006 Books in MotionListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Soul of the Family Tree
- Ancestors, Stories, and the Spirits We Inherit
- By: Lori Erickson
- Narrated by: Lori Erickson
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in a passionately Norwegian American Iowa town, Lori Erickson rolled her eyes at traditions like Nordic Fest and steaming pots of rømmegrøt. But like many Americans, she eventually felt drawn to genealogy, the "quintessential hobby of middle age". Her quest to know more about the Vikings and immigrants who perch in her family tree led her to visit Norse settlements and reenactments, medieval villages and modern museums, her picturesque hometown and her ancestor's farm on the fjords.
By: Lori Erickson
-
Grandma Gatewood's Walk
- The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail
- By: Ben Montgomery
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than $200. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, atop Maine's Mount Katahdin, she sang the first verse of "America, the Beautiful" and proclaimed, "I said I'll do it, and I've done it."
-
-
Inspiring story about a strong amazing woman
- By David Shear on 12-22-14
By: Ben Montgomery
-
It. Goes. So. Fast.
- The Year of No Do-Overs
- By: Mary Louise Kelly
- Narrated by: Mary Louise Kelly
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since she became a parent, Mary Louise Kelly has said “next year.” Next year will be the year she makes it to her son James’s soccer games (which are on weekdays at 4 p.m., right when she is on the air on NPR’s All Things Considered, talking to millions of listeners). Drive carpool for her son Alexander? Not if she wants to do that story about Ukraine and interview the secretary of state. Like millions of parents who wrestle with raising children while pursuing a career, she has never been cavalier about these decisions.
-
-
Privilege.
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-24
-
The House That Love Built
- Why I Opened My Door to Immigrants and How We Found Hope Beyond a Broken System
- By: Sarah Jackson, Scott Sawyer - contributor
- Narrated by: Chloe Dolandis
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The House That Love Built is the quintessential story of one woman's questioning what it means to be an American - and a Christian - in light of a broken immigration system. Through tender stories of opening her heart and home to immigrants, Sarah Jackson shines a holy light on loving our neighbor.
By: Sarah Jackson, and others
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
-
-
i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
-
The Soul of the Family Tree
- Ancestors, Stories, and the Spirits We Inherit
- By: Lori Erickson
- Narrated by: Lori Erickson
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in a passionately Norwegian American Iowa town, Lori Erickson rolled her eyes at traditions like Nordic Fest and steaming pots of rømmegrøt. But like many Americans, she eventually felt drawn to genealogy, the "quintessential hobby of middle age". Her quest to know more about the Vikings and immigrants who perch in her family tree led her to visit Norse settlements and reenactments, medieval villages and modern museums, her picturesque hometown and her ancestor's farm on the fjords.
By: Lori Erickson
-
Grandma Gatewood's Walk
- The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail
- By: Ben Montgomery
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than $200. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, atop Maine's Mount Katahdin, she sang the first verse of "America, the Beautiful" and proclaimed, "I said I'll do it, and I've done it."
-
-
Inspiring story about a strong amazing woman
- By David Shear on 12-22-14
By: Ben Montgomery
-
It. Goes. So. Fast.
- The Year of No Do-Overs
- By: Mary Louise Kelly
- Narrated by: Mary Louise Kelly
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since she became a parent, Mary Louise Kelly has said “next year.” Next year will be the year she makes it to her son James’s soccer games (which are on weekdays at 4 p.m., right when she is on the air on NPR’s All Things Considered, talking to millions of listeners). Drive carpool for her son Alexander? Not if she wants to do that story about Ukraine and interview the secretary of state. Like millions of parents who wrestle with raising children while pursuing a career, she has never been cavalier about these decisions.
-
-
Privilege.
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-24
-
The House That Love Built
- Why I Opened My Door to Immigrants and How We Found Hope Beyond a Broken System
- By: Sarah Jackson, Scott Sawyer - contributor
- Narrated by: Chloe Dolandis
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The House That Love Built is the quintessential story of one woman's questioning what it means to be an American - and a Christian - in light of a broken immigration system. Through tender stories of opening her heart and home to immigrants, Sarah Jackson shines a holy light on loving our neighbor.
By: Sarah Jackson, and others
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
-
-
i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
-
The Last Castle
- The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home
- By: Denise Kiernan
- Narrated by: Denise Kiernan
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York's best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House. Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness.
-
-
Very factual
- By Jennifer on 11-28-17
By: Denise Kiernan
-
Prairie Fires
- The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
- By: Caroline Fraser
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of fans of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls - the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true story of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.
-
-
Don’t read if you don’t want your fond memories...
- By NMwritergal on 11-24-17
By: Caroline Fraser
-
Frontier Grit
- The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women
- By: Marianne Monson
- Narrated by: Caroline Shaffer
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the stories of 12 women who heard the call to settle the West and who came from all points of the globe to begin their journeys. As a slave Clara watched helplessly as her husband and children were sold, only to be reunited with her youngest daughter as a free woman six decades later. As a young girl, Charlotte hid her gender to escape a life of poverty and became the greatest stagecoach driver who ever lived. As a Native American, Gertrude fought to give her people a voice and to educate leaders about the ways and importance of America's native people.
-
-
only ok
- By Jane Orr on 06-14-21
By: Marianne Monson
-
Black Titan
- A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire
- By: Carol Jenkins
- Narrated by: Susan Spain
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A.G. Gaston, the poor grandson of slaves, was born in the Deep South in 1892. Over the course of his extraordinary life, he amassed a fortune of over $130 million and a vast business empire. The story of his remarkable life is written with eloquence and grace by his niece, an Emmy¿ Award-winning journalist and her daughter, who holds degrees from Yale and Harvard.
-
-
Black Gold = Standing Ovation
- By 2Fresh on 01-20-16
By: Carol Jenkins
-
The Three Graces of Val-Kill
- Eleanor Roosevelt, Marion Dickerman, and Nancy Cook in the Place They Made Their Own
- By: Emily Herring Wilson
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Three Graces of Val-Kill changes the way we think about Eleanor Roosevelt. Emily Wilson examines what she calls the most formative period in Roosevelt's life, from 1922 to 1936, when she cultivated an intimate friendship with Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook, who helped her build a cottage on the Val-Kill Creek in Hyde Park on the Roosevelt family land. In the early years, the three women - the "three graces", as Franklin Delano Roosevelt called them - were nearly inseparable.
-
-
Beautifully written and deeply felt
- By Edward Abraham on 09-13-17
-
West with Giraffes
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Rutledge
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to become Southern California’s first giraffes. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow.
-
-
Gritty, sweet, amazing, sad, uplifting
- By FL Bird Woman on 02-19-21
By: Lynda Rutledge
-
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
- By: Jesse Q. Sutanto
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop.
-
-
So far,surprisingly charming-OUTSTANDING narration
- By Christine T on 03-20-23
By: Jesse Q. Sutanto
-
Becoming Mrs. Lewis
- The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis
- By: Patti Callahan
- Narrated by: Lauren Woodward
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis - known as Jack - she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.
-
-
Narrator is TERRIBLE
- By Karen S on 10-11-18
By: Patti Callahan
-
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend
- Missouri Biography Series
- By: John E. Miller
- Narrated by: Paula Faye Leinweber
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Going beyond previous studies, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder focuses upon Wilder's years in Missouri from 1894 to 1957. Utilizing her unpublished autobiography, letters, newspaper stories, and other documentary evidence, John E. Miller fills the gaps in Wilder's autobiographical novels and describes her 63 years of living in Mansfield, Missouri.
-
-
Listened twice!
- By BookBelle on 04-04-18
By: John E. Miller
-
The Paris Library
- A Novel
- By: Janet Skeslien Charles
- Narrated by: Nicky Diss, Sarah Feathers, Esther Wane, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet seems to have the perfect life with her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into the city, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books.
-
-
Calling all lovers of libraries around the world
- By MelSA on 02-15-21
-
A Passion for Nature
- The Life of John Muir
- By: Donald Worster
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I am hopelessly and forever a mountaineer," John Muir wrote. "Civilization and fever and all the morbidness that has been hooted at me has not dimmed my glacial eye, and I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature's loveliness. My own special self is nothing". In Donald Worster's magisterial biography, John Muir's "special self" is fully explored as is his extraordinary ability, then and now, to get others to see the sacred beauty of the natural world.
-
-
A good biography for historical perspective
- By Harold W. Wood Jr. on 05-15-14
By: Donald Worster
-
Dorothea Lange
- A Life Beyond Limits
- By: Linda Gordon
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We all know Dorothea Lange's iconic photos - the Migrant Mother holding her child, the shoeless children of the Dust Bowl - but now renowned American historian Linda Gordon brings them to three-dimensional life in this groundbreaking exploration of Lange's transformation into a documentarist. Using Lange's life to anchor a moving social history of 20th-century America, Gordon masterfully re-creates bohemian San Francisco, the Depression, and the Japanese-American internment camps.
-
-
Very interesting but narration was unusual
- By Allen on 09-04-13
By: Linda Gordon
Critic reviews
"A thoughtful discussion of the social and psychological factors that often silence family stories....Fortunately [Hunt] has broken the silence of Helga's story to embolden the spirits of future generations." ( Bloomsbury Review)
Related to this topic
-
Frontier Grit
- The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women
- By: Marianne Monson
- Narrated by: Caroline Shaffer
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the stories of 12 women who heard the call to settle the West and who came from all points of the globe to begin their journeys. As a slave Clara watched helplessly as her husband and children were sold, only to be reunited with her youngest daughter as a free woman six decades later. As a young girl, Charlotte hid her gender to escape a life of poverty and became the greatest stagecoach driver who ever lived. As a Native American, Gertrude fought to give her people a voice and to educate leaders about the ways and importance of America's native people.
-
-
only ok
- By Jane Orr on 06-14-21
By: Marianne Monson
-
Prairie Fires
- The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
- By: Caroline Fraser
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of fans of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls - the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true story of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.
-
-
Don’t read if you don’t want your fond memories...
- By NMwritergal on 11-24-17
By: Caroline Fraser
-
Passing Strange
- A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
- By: Martha A. Sandweiss
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant scientist and witty conversationalist, best-selling author and architect of the great surveys that mapped the West after the Civil War, Clarence King was named by John Hay "the best and brightest of his generation". But King hid a secret from his Gilded Age cohorts and prominent family in Newport: for 13 years he lived a double life - as the celebrated White explorer, geologist, and writer Clarence King and as a Black Pullman porter and steelworker named James Todd.
-
-
Race and Identity
- By Roy on 03-22-10
-
A Warrior of the People
- How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America’s First Indian Doctor
- By: Joe Starita
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 14, 1889, Susan La Flesche received her medical degree - becoming the first Native American doctor in US history. She earned her degree 31 years before women could vote and 35 years before Indians could become citizens in their own country. This is the story of an Indian woman who effectively became the chief of an entrenched patriarchal tribe, the story of a woman who crashed through thick walls of ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice and then spent the rest of her life using a unique bicultural identity to improve the lot of her people.
-
-
A Remarkable Woman
- By Jean on 11-27-16
By: Joe Starita
-
King and Queen of Malibu
- The True Story of the Battle for Paradise
- By: David K. Randall
- Narrated by: Eric Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over a half century, Malibu went from an untamed ranch in the middle of nowhere to a paradise seeded with movie stars. Behind its transformation is the love story of Frederick and May Rindge. He was a Harvard-trained confidant of presidents; she grew up on a hardscrabble Midwestern farm; yet their unlikely bond would shape history.
-
-
Detailed and interesting
- By SuperLuckyCat on 08-04-24
By: David K. Randall
-
Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
-
-
Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
-
Frontier Grit
- The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women
- By: Marianne Monson
- Narrated by: Caroline Shaffer
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the stories of 12 women who heard the call to settle the West and who came from all points of the globe to begin their journeys. As a slave Clara watched helplessly as her husband and children were sold, only to be reunited with her youngest daughter as a free woman six decades later. As a young girl, Charlotte hid her gender to escape a life of poverty and became the greatest stagecoach driver who ever lived. As a Native American, Gertrude fought to give her people a voice and to educate leaders about the ways and importance of America's native people.
-
-
only ok
- By Jane Orr on 06-14-21
By: Marianne Monson
-
Prairie Fires
- The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
- By: Caroline Fraser
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of fans of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls - the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true story of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.
-
-
Don’t read if you don’t want your fond memories...
- By NMwritergal on 11-24-17
By: Caroline Fraser
-
Passing Strange
- A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
- By: Martha A. Sandweiss
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant scientist and witty conversationalist, best-selling author and architect of the great surveys that mapped the West after the Civil War, Clarence King was named by John Hay "the best and brightest of his generation". But King hid a secret from his Gilded Age cohorts and prominent family in Newport: for 13 years he lived a double life - as the celebrated White explorer, geologist, and writer Clarence King and as a Black Pullman porter and steelworker named James Todd.
-
-
Race and Identity
- By Roy on 03-22-10
-
A Warrior of the People
- How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America’s First Indian Doctor
- By: Joe Starita
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 14, 1889, Susan La Flesche received her medical degree - becoming the first Native American doctor in US history. She earned her degree 31 years before women could vote and 35 years before Indians could become citizens in their own country. This is the story of an Indian woman who effectively became the chief of an entrenched patriarchal tribe, the story of a woman who crashed through thick walls of ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice and then spent the rest of her life using a unique bicultural identity to improve the lot of her people.
-
-
A Remarkable Woman
- By Jean on 11-27-16
By: Joe Starita
-
King and Queen of Malibu
- The True Story of the Battle for Paradise
- By: David K. Randall
- Narrated by: Eric Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over a half century, Malibu went from an untamed ranch in the middle of nowhere to a paradise seeded with movie stars. Behind its transformation is the love story of Frederick and May Rindge. He was a Harvard-trained confidant of presidents; she grew up on a hardscrabble Midwestern farm; yet their unlikely bond would shape history.
-
-
Detailed and interesting
- By SuperLuckyCat on 08-04-24
By: David K. Randall
-
Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
-
-
Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
-
Where I Was From
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her moving and insightful new book, Joan Didion reassesses parts of her life, her work, her history and ours. A native Californian, Didion applies her scalpel-like intelligence to the state’s ethic of ruthless self-sufficiency in order to examine that ethic’s often tenuous relationship to reality. Combining history and reportage, memoir and literary criticism, Where I Was From explores California’s romances with land and water; its unacknowledged debts to railroads, aerospace, and big government; the disjunction between its code of individualism and its fetish for prisons.
-
-
California belongs to Joan Didion.
- By Darwin8u on 11-04-15
By: Joan Didion
-
The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman
- Women in the West, Book 1
- By: Margot Mifflin
- Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1851, Olive Oatman was a 13-year-old pioneer traveling west toward Zion, with her Mormon family. Within a decade, she was a white Indian with a chin tattoo, caught between cultures. The Blue Tattoo tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Orphaned when her family was brutally killed by Yavapai Indians, Oatman lived as a slave to her captors for a year before being traded to the Mohave, who tattooed her face and raised her as their own.
-
-
Mispronunciations
- By R. Brown on 06-07-18
By: Margot Mifflin
-
Libertarians on the Prairie
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books
- By: Christine Woodside
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Generations of children have fallen in love with the pioneer saga of the Ingalls family, of Pa and Ma, Laura and her sisters, and their loyal dog. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have taught millions of Americans about frontier life, giving inspiration to many and in the process becoming icons of our national identity. Yet few realize that this best-selling series wandered far from the actual history of the Ingalls family and from what Laura herself understood to be central truths about pioneer life.
-
-
Very Interested!!
- By ME00625 on 01-16-17
-
Twilight at Monticello
- The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: James Boles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama, one of the greatest, played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths.
-
-
After Leaving Office
- By Roy on 09-23-10
-
Never Caught
- By: Erica Armstrong Dunbar
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation's capital. In setting up his household, he took Tobias Lear, his celebrated secretary, and eight slaves, including Ona Judge, about which little has been written. As he grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn't get his arms around: Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state. Washington decided to circumvent the law.
-
-
Wonderful audiobook
- By Brad Turner on 03-07-17
-
The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
-
-
i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
-
Jefferson's Daughters
- Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America
- By: Catherine Kerrison
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Jefferson had three daughters: Martha and Maria by his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, and Harriet by his slave Sally Hemings. Although the three women shared a father, the similarities end there. Martha and Maria received a fine convent school education while they lived with their father during his diplomatic posting in Paris. Once they returned home, however, the sisters found their options limited by the laws and customs of early America. Harriet Hemings followed a different path. She escaped slavery — apparently with the assistance of Jefferson himself.
-
-
Don't waste money on this book.
- By Amazon Customer on 02-17-18
-
Marmee and Louisa
- The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother
- By: Eve LaPlante
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Biographers have consistently credited her father, Bronson Alcott, for Louisa May Alcott's professional success, assuming that this outspoken idealist was the source of her progressive thinking and remarkable independence. But in this riveting dual biography, Eve LaPlante explodes those myths, drawing on unknown and unexplored letters and journals to show that Louisa's "Marmee", Abigail May Alcott, was in fact the intellectual and emotional center of her daughter's world. It was Abigail who urged Louisa to write, who inspired many of her stories, and who gave her the support and courage she needed to pursue her path.
-
-
Hardworking women and the man they supported
- By Chris on 04-26-13
By: Eve LaPlante
-
The Road from Coorain
- By: Jill Ker Conway
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1930s, Jill Ker's parents bought a sheep farm on the western plains of New South Wales. In 1944, they lost nearly everything when a drought hit. Forced to leave Coorain, 11-year-old Jill and her mother settled in Sydney where Jill struggled to find a place for herself among Sydney's elite. Her story, both a chronicle of life in the Australian outback and the odyssey of a brilliant woman fighting the constraints of her time, offers a loving view of Australia.
-
-
So glad I (finally) listened to my aunt
- By T. on 07-12-13
By: Jill Ker Conway
-
The Last Castle
- The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home
- By: Denise Kiernan
- Narrated by: Denise Kiernan
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York's best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House. Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness.
-
-
Very factual
- By Jennifer on 11-28-17
By: Denise Kiernan
-
My Thoughts Be Bloody
- The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth
- By: Nora Titone, Doris Kearns Goodwin - introduction/notes
- Narrated by: John B. Lloyd
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My Thoughts Be Bloody, a sweeping family saga, revives an extraordinary figure whose name has been missing, until now, from the story of President Lincoln's death. Edwin Booth, John Wilkes's older brother by four years, was in his day the biggest star of the American stage. Without an account of Edwin Booth, author Nora Titone argues, the real story of Lincoln's assassin has never been told.
-
-
Wonderful!
- By Tad Davis on 11-30-10
By: Nora Titone, and others
-
Pearl Buck in China
- Journey to The Good Earth
- By: Hilary Spurling
- Narrated by: Hilary Spurling
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The author of the much honored two-volume biography of Henri Matisse unearths the life and work of the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl Buck, whose novels in the 1930's and 40's were the first written for a Western audience to describe ordinary life in the still secret China of the late 19th and early 20th century.
-
-
Very good
- By M. Brandman on 06-15-10
By: Hilary Spurling
What listeners say about Bold Spirit
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Barb
- 04-02-12
Incredible story
Would you consider the audio edition of Bold Spirit to be better than the print version?
Haven't read it so can't compare the two versions
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I was annoyed / disappointed in the reaction the family had. She should have been celebrated, not shamed for trying to save her family in the only way she could.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DESIREE LORUSSO
- 09-26-16
Outstanding!
What an amazing woman and story! Has encouraged me to tell my kids and grandkids the stories of their great grandparents!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelly
- 05-23-16
An incredible story hindered by average writing.
This book is an incredible story about a woman who walked across the USA in the 1800s with only her teenage daughter as a companion. They had no money; they carried no extra clothes or food; they found themselves accosted by men and followed by mountain lions. These women are the types of women I revere. They were strong, capable women breaking - no, shattering - barriers. I loved the story. However, the writing style feels more like a history report done in high school or at community college. It was difficult to get over the writing style and stay invested in the book. I stayed with it because I was intrigued by Helga and Clara. I still am.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MAF/BPF
- 04-03-18
Norwegian boldness!
My mother, who is 104, is first generation Norwegian which was why I read this. This story is truly remarkable, considering all the challenges Helga faced before and after her amazing journey. I will recommend this book to all my friends - it portrays her bold spirit that can only inspire anyone that reads this to reach for anything that seems impossible!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Samanda
- 09-14-23
Untold stories
Helga was an intriguing woman. I lament her children's silencing of her amazing journey and life. I agree with another reviewer this book had pretty dry writing that could have gone into more details to flesh out the story. The audio recording also has some interesting quality issues that are only distractions if you notice. Still highly recommend so you can hear about Helga!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Abi Memsahib
- 06-26-21
Lost Opportunity
I was so looking forward to hearing about the exciting, colorful adventure of Helga and Clara's trek across the United States, but it was a complete disappointment. What an opportunity to learn about ordinary Americans and how they lived their lives, what they had opinions about, how they felt emotionally, etc at the end of the century. I don't know whose fault it was: whether it was Helga's limited ability to write about her experience or the person who may have helped her write about them, but there was not the excitement I expected it to be. The narrator didn't help: her voice was flat, emotionless. I was appalled by the lack of generosity of Americans to help them get back to their home as quickly as possible. In summary I'm sorry I wasted my time to listen to this sad tale.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mallory
- 12-19-22
Don’t waste your credits
If you enjoy listening to textbooks being narrated, you’ll like this. Save your credits. The narration on this book is so lame and flat and the writing is simple and lacks any development. It’s like listening to an encyclopedia - there’s no storyline and it’s basically a conglomeration of facts. Also seemingly a religious agenda, as “trust in god” is often referenced. Hard pass.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!