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This is an interesting work to read... if you also have at hand the actual diaries of the real Isabella Bird to compare it to (as well as some quick wiki fact-check) because for as empathetic and curious the person tried to be, she's still a high class brittish person from the XIX when imperialism and eugenics theories were rampant, so inbetween some comments there's also racism and disgust, not constant, but always there, sometimes as backdrop and sometimes more explicitly.
Which is why I think you should read it with the manga, which is a fictionalized more dramatic version filtered through japanese sensibilities (with some eye to international empathy), so aside of some things to make it more entertaining (recurring characters, story arcs, development, intrigue, etc.), how and what they soften from the real person (which is quite a bit) by the people from the very same country she wrote is insightful to reflect, and also makes the details of what they keep from her descriptions have at least more of an air of plausibility (though of course be still mindful). Though of course you gotta deal with some uncomfort, but I think it's better than reading the manga as itself and thinking the real person is just as she's portrayed there.
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Oh wow, I remember reading about Mrs. Bird in "Cricket Magazine" as a kid; the story involved a trek through part of Hawaii on a horse named Bessie Twinker, and how Mrs. Bird chose to use a riding skirt and go astride without caring how "unladylike" it was, since sidesaddle gave her the worst back problems. This sounds fascinating!
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