On land, Sophie Blanchard was a timid, anxious woman who could hardly stand the noise and commotion of 18th century Paris. But after her first flight in a hot-air balloon, she was hooked, and would spend the rest of her life chasing the peace and freedom she found hundreds of feet in the air. The first woman in the world to fly solo in a hot-air balloon, she became so famous for her skill and daring in the sky that even Napoleon took notice, and tried to recruit her for a particularly unusual military maneuver.
Her death in 1819 shook the continent, but her life story has been revived by Olivia’s guest Sharon Wright in her new book, Balloonomania Belles: Daredevil Divas who First Took to the Sky.
A complete transcript of this episode is available here.
Sharon Wright also returned as a guest in our first Halloween Special and our episode on Maria Brontë.
by Claude-Louis Desrais
Harpers New Monthly Magazine
photo by Gede
Sharon Wright is a British author, journalist and playwright. She was born in Yorkshire and lives in South West London. She has worked as a writer, editor and columnist for leading magazines, newspapers and websites including the BBC, The Guardian, Daily Express, Disney, Glamour and Red. She is also the author of critically acclaimed plays performed in Yorkshire and London. Her first book Balloonomania Belles: Daredevil Divas Who First Took To The Sky was serialized in the Mail on Sunday and received widespread coverage, including on BBC Woman’s Hour and in the New York Post. Her acclaimed biography of Maria Brontë, The Mother of the Brontës, was published in 2021.
Music featured in this episode included
Haydn’s “Sonata in B minor, Movements I-III” performed by Amanda Setlik Wilson
Beethoven’s “Langsam und Sehnsuchtvoll” performed by Amanda Setlik Wilson
Chopin’s “Waltz In A Minor” Op 34 No 2 and Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Op. 47 performed by Nico de Napoli
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