A Woman's Place Is at the Top

June 15, 2017

Annie Smith Peck (1850-1935) is the most accomplished woman most readers have never heard of. With this debut, Kimberley does an excellent job of situating Peck in her time and place, late 19th- and early 20th-century America. Peck grew up in Providence at a time when women were expected to follow a well-established path to wife and motherhood. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1878 and receiving her Master's degree in 1881, Peck spent a "wretched" two years teaching at Purdue before traveling to Europe to study and climb mountains. Peck decided to become a touring lecturer (following a brief tenure teaching at Smith College), giving talks across the United States about Greek history and archaeology as well as mountain climbing. She continued to lecture and write about her journeys throughout her life, bucking traditional roles by never marrying and traveling alone to foreign countries. Some of her major climbs included being the first woman to ascend Mt. Shasta in 1888, along with reaching the summits of Matterhorn, Illampu in Bolivia, and Huascaran in Peru. VERDICT Readers of adventure stories, women's history, and biographies will enjoy this well-researched book.--Margaret Atwater-Singer, Univ. of Evansville Lib., IN

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
In 1908, after several attempts, Rhode Island native Annie Peck led the first successful expedition on South America's Mount Huascaran (21,812 feet), cementing her reputation as a tenacious and courageous explorer. That she was also a university graduate and committed suffragist, who organized and marched for women's rights and defiantly wore (and was photographed in) pants while climbing, just adds to this thoroughly modern woman's appeal. A writer and lecturer who crossed over into pop culture celebrity as a trading-card star, Peck was famous and then famously forgotten. She is rescued from obscurity by Kimberley, whose first biography of the American mountaineer is thoroughly researched and comprehensive, including, as a delightful introduction with Nancy Drew overtones, her own story of discovering Peck. After a somewhat tedious early section that focuses too heavily on Peck's younger years and relationships, the narrative takes off as Kimberley writes of the explorer's travels and climbing accomplishments. Peck was a dynamic and compelling woman, and her story will be hard to resist for armchair travelers and fans of hidden history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)