The book “Scandalous Women” (book review) by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (blog | Twitter) is filled with great stories and great trivia. Instead of doing my usual Fun Facts Friday I decided to do something a bit different. I will use random.org ten times and open up to that page in “Scandalous Women”. Once there I will gleam a fun fact from that page.
1) To celebrate her 50 years in show biz, 68 year old Josephine Baker did a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris (page 230).
2) Amelia Earhart is considered to be the first modern American heroine (page 285).
3) Lady Caroline Lamb wrote an anonymous fan letter to Lord Byron after reading an 1812 ARC of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. And you thought ARCs were a new thing (page 47).
4) If Joan of Arc lived today she’d probably be diagnosed as a schizophrenic (page 21).
5) Mata Hari means “the eye of the day” in Malay (page 112).
6) Boudica, a queen of the Iceni tribe (today considered part of England), seized London from the conquering Roman Empire and burned it the town the ground (page 11).
7) Mary Wollstonecraft who caused many scandals arguing for the revolutionary notion that women should have rights, was the mother of “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelly (page 129).
8) Carry Nation forced the US Senate to stop its session while being removed from the public galleries after shouting her opinions (page 159).
9) Gertrude Stein was named a Commander of the British Empire in 1917. Ms. Stein said “It’s rather absurd” (page 276).
10) Lady Hester Stanhope was born in England, but ended her life in Djoun, Lebanon (page 261).
Zohar — Man of la Book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on book
5 Comments
Love the concept of ‘Fun Facts Friday’ and will be looking forward to reading more of them. Now, where can I get myself a scandalous woman!?!
Thanks Marc, these posts are fun to write.
Be careful what you wish for when it comes to scandalous women, LOL.
Oh wow. Thank you. These were fun and informative.
I absolutely LOVE these Fun Fact Fridays (although I almost always read them on a Saturday, LOL).
I love how the “Scandalous Women” are not scandalous because of sexual promiscuity, but because they were strong & determined women of their time who stood up for whatever they loved or believed in. As a woman, I can only hope to be counted amongst the Scandalous Women of my time (I highly doubt it, though). Thank you, Zohar, for this amazing post 🙂
~Hira~
GFC Follower: ~Enamored Soul~
Email: Enamoredsoul(at)gmail(dot)com
Twitter: @inluvwithbookz
Thanks Hira, your great comments are part of what keeps me going.
I’m sure you have created a scandal or two of your own 🙂