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A Lady's Captivity Among Chinese Pirates
First written in 1858, this thrilling narrative recounts the true story of Fanny Loviot, a wealthy, young French girl who was kidnapped at sea. After setting sail for California in 1855, Fanny's boat was overtaken and she was captured by Chinese pirates who held her hostage and demanded a ransom. This personal account follows her trying time in captivity, as well as her dramatic rescue by British authorities.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1858
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 10, 2012
I adore stories of Victorian women who ventured to far-off places. Isabella Bird, Gertrude Bell, Emily Eden . . . sigh. I think the appeal is in their breaking of the rules, but then sometimes it's the title alone that grabs me: Across Canada With a Kodak, Alone Among the Zulus, and this, A Lady's Captivity Among the Chinese. The story does not live up to the title, though - pretty standard travelogue tarted up with the melodrama of pirates about 3/4s of the way through. And when I say "tarted," I mean just that - reading between the lines, you realize this Fanny Loviot was in business - a 19th century "working girl" who left France to seek her fortune in the Gold Rush in California, and then on to China. I'm glad she finally made it - as a writer!
April 26, 2012
A real page-turner, full of scenes straight out of John Ford movies, and then moving west. Fanny Loviot wasn't really a "lady" by the standards of the day, but she was a sensitive observer of colonialism in action. A book that would make a very good movie.
December 31, 2017
This is a tale of adventure and travel, with all the sights and perils that abounded in 1850's humanity. Oh, and there was a little bit of pirate action as well. Of course, if you're on the receiving end of that pirating, a little is more than enough.
Two French sisters set out from France to seek their fortune in gold rush mad California, with a presumptive nine lives in tow, as evidenced by the schooner they had commisioned for their journey. It was a questionable tub, and the general consensus was that it would never make it around the Cape. Obviously, it did navigate the cape successfully, and eventually they landed in California, but not before Fanny gave her version of de facto home movies detailing the stops she made. Once in San Francisco, she gave an interesting account of life as it existed in that city at the time. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Cosmopolitan probably wouldn't be the word to describe it; more like the wild west with hotels, and hey, some of the streets were even paved!
Eventually, Fanny meets another woman who invites her on a fateful trip that would form the core of this story. I use the term core rather loosely, because although the episode with the pirates certainly was gripping, given that it is based in fact, the majority of the book deals with her adventure if you will, and most of that occurred far away from anything that resembled piracy. Leaving her sister behind in California, Fanny sets off like a globe trotting gypsy, the planning for this adventure clearly on a generic, if not haphazard model.
More than a third of book goes by before we get to the pirates; Not that the first third wasn't interesting, but I just wanted to get to the pirate story and skip the roaming travel brochure. But finally we did get to the pirates, the junk sailing, ship plundering marauders who took their ship without a struggle.
Now you would think that a woman being confronted by a gruesome lot of pirates would be preparing herself for ravagement. But not so with these animals. Apparently, they had some kind of daily worship ritual, and whether it was religious in nature or not wasn't clear. What was clear is that they were forbidden from fraternizing with aliens. White girl Fannie fit that description, and as a result, she was not harmed-in that way. Of course, she was treated like garbage for the most part, but not a one tried to bang her, except one who she described as having wanting to "fly" with her. Not sure what that meant and she didn't elaborate, and in fact, that issue was put to rest very quickly. Yes, racism saved her from being gang raped by brutal pirates, but it didn't save her from being mistreated. Thrown in a hold with rats, spiders and other flesh chewing entities was a nightmare in and of itself, and while reading this I had to ask myself about toilet issues. She had to have been forced to soil herself (in more ways than one), but that was never discussed in the book. Then, why would you detail the obvious?
After reading sea descriptions from the likes of Cooper, Fenn and Jack London, hers fall a little short; but then she wasn't a sea faring woman; she was just a passenger. Still, I struggled with a picture of and the gravity of the scenes. An entire book could have focused soley on what happened in captivity. It sounded horrifyingly riveting, although it was lacking in the lurid detail that could have made a monster book. Instead, it turned out to be a bad few weeks in what was a trip that encompassed several years. In the end, none of the good folks died, and she apparently fully recovered from her crucible. No doubt the defining experience of her life.
Two French sisters set out from France to seek their fortune in gold rush mad California, with a presumptive nine lives in tow, as evidenced by the schooner they had commisioned for their journey. It was a questionable tub, and the general consensus was that it would never make it around the Cape. Obviously, it did navigate the cape successfully, and eventually they landed in California, but not before Fanny gave her version of de facto home movies detailing the stops she made. Once in San Francisco, she gave an interesting account of life as it existed in that city at the time. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Cosmopolitan probably wouldn't be the word to describe it; more like the wild west with hotels, and hey, some of the streets were even paved!
Eventually, Fanny meets another woman who invites her on a fateful trip that would form the core of this story. I use the term core rather loosely, because although the episode with the pirates certainly was gripping, given that it is based in fact, the majority of the book deals with her adventure if you will, and most of that occurred far away from anything that resembled piracy. Leaving her sister behind in California, Fanny sets off like a globe trotting gypsy, the planning for this adventure clearly on a generic, if not haphazard model.
More than a third of book goes by before we get to the pirates; Not that the first third wasn't interesting, but I just wanted to get to the pirate story and skip the roaming travel brochure. But finally we did get to the pirates, the junk sailing, ship plundering marauders who took their ship without a struggle.
Now you would think that a woman being confronted by a gruesome lot of pirates would be preparing herself for ravagement. But not so with these animals. Apparently, they had some kind of daily worship ritual, and whether it was religious in nature or not wasn't clear. What was clear is that they were forbidden from fraternizing with aliens. White girl Fannie fit that description, and as a result, she was not harmed-in that way. Of course, she was treated like garbage for the most part, but not a one tried to bang her, except one who she described as having wanting to "fly" with her. Not sure what that meant and she didn't elaborate, and in fact, that issue was put to rest very quickly. Yes, racism saved her from being gang raped by brutal pirates, but it didn't save her from being mistreated. Thrown in a hold with rats, spiders and other flesh chewing entities was a nightmare in and of itself, and while reading this I had to ask myself about toilet issues. She had to have been forced to soil herself (in more ways than one), but that was never discussed in the book. Then, why would you detail the obvious?
After reading sea descriptions from the likes of Cooper, Fenn and Jack London, hers fall a little short; but then she wasn't a sea faring woman; she was just a passenger. Still, I struggled with a picture of and the gravity of the scenes. An entire book could have focused soley on what happened in captivity. It sounded horrifyingly riveting, although it was lacking in the lurid detail that could have made a monster book. Instead, it turned out to be a bad few weeks in what was a trip that encompassed several years. In the end, none of the good folks died, and she apparently fully recovered from her crucible. No doubt the defining experience of her life.
April 22, 2023
Fanny Loviot was a wealthy young French woman who decided to sail to California during the gold rush, to seek her fortune – and adventure. She and her sister made the quite the fortune as merchants to the gold miners, and changed their plans and locales out of sheer want of more adventure several times. The main part of the book deals with Fanny’s decision to part with her sister and join a friend on a business venture, in the Orient, that was sure to make them fabulously rich. Unfortunately, Fanny’s companion died mid-voyage, and Fanny arrived at their destination alone, unable to speak the language, and without any contacts to continue the business plan. Fanny began the long voyage BACK to America… and their ship was attacked by Chinese pirates. And then their wreck of a destroyed ship was attacked by another group of pirates. And then another...and then Fanny was kidnapped… and it was a good book, and she wasn’t killed or anything, so you should really read it for yourself. :D
April 30, 2023
She said she had never written another book before, and if that's true, as a writer, I am green with envy because the book was enthralling from start to finish, impeccably capturing the mood and setting. I found myself reminded of 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' However, I'm not certain if this is because of the familiar subject matter or because the movie's screenwriters pirated a little of their own from the pages of this memoir.
It did make me ponder, however, why Hollywood always portrays pirating as white-on-white atrocities when it is clear that during these times, international waters were fraught with Eastern nation plunderers who committed unspeakable acts against citizens of the Crown.
But I digress.
A captivating tale of adventure and survival. Highly recommend.
It did make me ponder, however, why Hollywood always portrays pirating as white-on-white atrocities when it is clear that during these times, international waters were fraught with Eastern nation plunderers who committed unspeakable acts against citizens of the Crown.
But I digress.
A captivating tale of adventure and survival. Highly recommend.
December 17, 2017
I picked this up, thinking it would detail life among pirates but most of the book was about San Francisco in the gold-rush days. The pirate part didn't happen until the second half of the book. The descriptions of life onboard ships and in the western U.S. in the 1850s were colorful and interesting to read.
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December 9, 2019Fanny Loviot recounts her business ventures in 1850's USA, the state of affairs of those living there (namely the Irish, Blacks and Chinese). She then devotes half of this work detailing her capture by Chinese pirates and these recent which followed. "A Lady's Captivity Among Chinese Pirates" is a very interesting story which puts modern accounts of solo female travel to shame.
March 7, 2018
a good contender to the world's unluckiest woman
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January 7, 2025The things I read for my thesis...
November 2, 2013
This book, first published in 1860, is Fanny Loviot's story of her experiences from leaving her native French home in Paris in May 1852 up until her return on 30 December 1854.
Mademoiselle Loviot's recollections read like a book of two halves. The first part features the young French lady, accompanied by her sister, sailing to America to earn their fortune. The reader learns about what San Francisco was like during the 1850s. Apart from a few momentary dangers, this part of Mademoiselle Loviot's life is relatively normal. All this changes in the second half of her time from Paris.
Leaving her sister, she joins another lady on a voyage to Hong Kong. This trip proves fruitless and Mademoiselle Loviot is forced to return to America without female companionship. An encounter with Chinese pirates alters everything.
In short, Mademoiselle Loviot's sets out to earn a great fortune yet instead suffers frightful misfortunes. It takes a lot of bravery, hope, and luck before she is able to return to her beloved homeland and recall her adventures six years later.
This was definitely worth reading. I've only awarded it three stars because the first half of the book didn't always hold my attention. Not much of great note happened, however, it presents a sense of normality, which contrasts well with the second half of the book when Mademoiselle Loviot can never be sure of her personal safety.
Mademoiselle Loviot's recollections read like a book of two halves. The first part features the young French lady, accompanied by her sister, sailing to America to earn their fortune. The reader learns about what San Francisco was like during the 1850s. Apart from a few momentary dangers, this part of Mademoiselle Loviot's life is relatively normal. All this changes in the second half of her time from Paris.
Leaving her sister, she joins another lady on a voyage to Hong Kong. This trip proves fruitless and Mademoiselle Loviot is forced to return to America without female companionship. An encounter with Chinese pirates alters everything.
In short, Mademoiselle Loviot's sets out to earn a great fortune yet instead suffers frightful misfortunes. It takes a lot of bravery, hope, and luck before she is able to return to her beloved homeland and recall her adventures six years later.
This was definitely worth reading. I've only awarded it three stars because the first half of the book didn't always hold my attention. Not much of great note happened, however, it presents a sense of normality, which contrasts well with the second half of the book when Mademoiselle Loviot can never be sure of her personal safety.
March 23, 2014
“Setting sail for California to seek her fortune, young French Fanny Loviot has little idea of the adventures that lie in wait.” Right, that would be the one about being kidnapped by Chinese pirates in 1854, holed up in junks, cellars, run over by rats, finding a German book which she cannot read and scratching her plight with hairpins etc. Rather the true story stuff that give rise to a literary career. But first, the circumstances that brought her, a single woman, to be sailing around the globe on “business concerns” needed to be explained or perhaps not explained, so tacked onto the beginning of the book before the green velvet sofa, the unusual kindness of a Chinese opium dealer and the ransom deal titillate the mid-19th century audiences. I don’t know what to give this book, how many stars? I didn’t enjoy reading it much except for the passages about San Francisco in 1852, and the mule rides into the Gold Hills on commercial endeavours. That was educational but the main body of the book about the time in the custody of Chinese opportunists was doubtless exciting for the public but pales today. I fear I am too harsh on Fanny for taking the moment to exploit her experiences to the reading public. I wish she could have told the real story, or stories of her voyages, doubtless terribly shocking and triple titillating.
May 11, 2015
It has so many of the properties of an excellent story: a Victorian lady, pirates, battles and so on, and yet I found the history of hat making in Baltimore that I’d listen to previous to it far more interesting. I never felt that Fanny Loviot was in real danger, despite this being a biography, not fiction. I think, perhaps, this is because Fanny wants to make very sure her reputation survives this experience, and so she marks out territory quite early.
We are told, in very clear terms, very quickly, that Ms Loviot was never treated rudely or mishandled. If you are at the start of a pirate novel, and the character makes very clear to you that she will not suffer any serious harm at any point for the rest of the narrative, then there’s no tension in any scene. You know people will not so much as swear in Loviot’s presence. She does several daring things to no effect. The pirates holding her flee the ship as the British fleet approaches. Loviot does make a signal so that the British do not soften the pirate vessel up with cannon fire before boarding, but there’s no risk in it for her.
So, oddly flat, given the title. I listened to the Librivox recording but the ebook is on the web for free.
Review originally appeared here: https://gcbooks.wordpress.com/2015/04...
We are told, in very clear terms, very quickly, that Ms Loviot was never treated rudely or mishandled. If you are at the start of a pirate novel, and the character makes very clear to you that she will not suffer any serious harm at any point for the rest of the narrative, then there’s no tension in any scene. You know people will not so much as swear in Loviot’s presence. She does several daring things to no effect. The pirates holding her flee the ship as the British fleet approaches. Loviot does make a signal so that the British do not soften the pirate vessel up with cannon fire before boarding, but there’s no risk in it for her.
So, oddly flat, given the title. I listened to the Librivox recording but the ebook is on the web for free.
Review originally appeared here: https://gcbooks.wordpress.com/2015/04...
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January 18, 2015Huima matkakertomus 1800-luvulta, jossa kauppiaaksi itseään tituleeraava (mutta internet-lähteiden mukaan prostituoituna toiminut), miesten vaatteissa matkustava, nopeaälyinen ja riuska ranskalaisnainen Fanny Loviot joutuu kiinalaisten merirosvojen kaappaamaksi. Mainio, helppolukuinen kirja, suosittelen kaikille 1800-luvusta ja/tai merirosvouksen historiasta kiinnostuneille. Kulttuurihistoriaa ja jännitystä.
August 12, 2012
An interesting first-hand account of 19th century piracy. It's a lot less exciting, dramatic or salacious than you might expect, certainly by today's standards. Fanny Loviot seems like a fascinating character, and wouldn't be out of place in a Flashman novel.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews