Tense, abundantly researched, and heartbreaking . . . Coles makes
sense of the unique forces that shaped women in the twentieth century.
--Foreword Reviews
Walter Link and Miriam Wollaeger, a young geologist couple in 1920s
Wisconsin, set out to find oil to supply the surging U.S. demand. This
exciting work will allow them to build their lives in South and Central
America, Indonesia, and Cuba. But from the first posting in Columbia,
they quickly discover that no women are working in the field in these
places. While Walter faces the hardships and thrills of exploration in
the jungles and mountains, and eventually becomes chief geologist for
Standard Oil, Miriam is left behind in the colonial capitals during
Walter's often lengthy times away. She defines herself through the
limited means left to a woman within their small societies: playing
bridge or polo by day and dancing into the wee hours with early KLM
pilots, diplomats, and the footloose sons of moneyed Americans and the
European aristocracies. She also raises three children, has intimate
involvements, learns the local languages, and takes up teaching. But she
is not satisfied. And finally she does something about it.
Following in her grandparents' footsteps, author Katharine Coles looks
backward and forward, through documents and imagination. She looks at
their journeys and hers, and mingling their words with her own, examines
the delicate balances that must exist in a successful marriage and a
feminist life.
