Join the Duchess and Lady on their latest read, The Runaway Duchess!
Ok so this takes place in the late 1800s - specifically 1883. This was the height of colonialism and a lot of that colonialism looked like - stealing things from other places. In this book, Neal was essentially a botanical adventurer.
Botanical expeditions during the 18th and 19th centuries were often state-sponsored endeavors aimed at cataloging and exploiting the flora of colonized territories. These collections were not merely scientific pursuits but were deeply intertwined with colonial objectives, including economic exploitation and the assertion of imperial dominance.
In the 1800s, the demand for exotic bird feathers in Europe spurred extensive hunting and trade, often involving Indigenous peoples and enslaved individuals as collectors. This trade was integral to the fashion industry, with feathers adorning hats and garments, symbolizing status and exoticism. The exploitation of bird populations led to significant ecological disruptions and the endangerment of various species. And a shoutout to one of my favorite nonbookish pods - True Crime Campfire which did a wicked cool case about a feather heist. I will put it in our sources.
Sources:
True Crime Campfire, Bird Brain: The Great Feather Heist
Biodiversity Heritage Blog - No Egrets: The Story of Fashion and Feathers Through Books
Cornell Library - Fashion and Feathers
Museum Victoria - Flight of fashion: when feathers were worth twice their weight in gold
In the 1800s, the fashion industry’s obsession with feathers drove some bird species to extinction.
I didn’t use this source but found this article super interesting: The Guardian - ‘We need other logics for our approach to nature’: the woman uprooting colonialism in botany.
Intro Music: Musopen; Violin Concerto in F major, RV 293 'Autumn' - III. Allegro https://musopen.org/music/14910-the-four-seasons-op-8/
Jul 17 202533 mins