An American Girl Abroad

One trunk holds the essentials when Adeline Trafton and Mrs. K. set out for Europe in An American Girl Abroad. Rain at the wharf leaves their spirits undampened, though the crowded ladies' cabin soon corrects their expectations of elegant surroundings. This travel account takes in England, Paris, Belgium, Holland, the Rhine and Switzerland, finding material for humour in transport, hotels and encounters with other travellers.

A sail up the Meuse brings windmills, low islands and villages into view before the travellers reach Rotterdam. There, Trafton describes a comfortable hotel room overlooking ships, canals that carry cargo to warehouse doors, and milk carriers in purple gowns and white caps. Her interest in clothes, furniture and the practical arrangements of unfamiliar places gives everyday details room beside churches and galleries. Readers interested in nineteenth-century travel will find a personal record of sightseeing shaped by curiosity, comic disappointment and small pleasures.