Izzy Bird, life at sea
December 09, 2020
You can likely guess where Isabella is.
This next bit from her letter about “the boy” really captures the time and the place of her lived experience. It’s long but worth it.*
“This life is in some respects like being on board ship — there are no mails, and one knows nothing beyond one’s own little world, a very little one in this case. We find each other true, and have learnt to esteem and trust each other. I should, for instance, go out of this room leaving this book open on the table, knowing that the men** would not read my letter. They are discreet, reticent, observant, and on my subjects well informed, but they are a type that has no antitype at home. All women work in this region, so there is no fuss about my working, or saying, ‘Oh, you mustn’t do that,’ or ‘Oh, let me do that.’”
For Isabella, the ability to do things without censure seems to be what she most craves when back in the “civilized” world.
* imho and ymmv
** she is not speaking of “the boy,” who she has made clear is without honor
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