How To Be a Victorian (Paperback)

I haven't finished this, but it is a very interesting read! I only wish it were more clear about when in the Victorian timeline things were happening. After all, anything from 1837-1901 is "Victorian." That's a lot of decades of change. I feel like the focus is on earlier stuff, but she does touch on some later developments. There are some images in the middle pages, which are kind of tiny, but nice references. The focus is on English life, but there was at least one mention of an American invention relating to hygiene, which was interesting to me, as an American. The author goes into detail of why things were done or made the way they were--everything from leaving windows open at night to the fabrics worn by common folk to how women dealt with their periods.

Great book - I don't know why it's getting knocked for too much detail...'dawn to dusk' kind of implies it's looking at the minutiae of everyday Victorian life, doesn't it??I think the BEST PART is the commentary that Ms. Goodman inserts into every section/portion of the day. For everyone who has ever read history & then asked "I wonder what it was like to use an outhouse in the winter??" or "what would it be like to lace tightly into a corset, every day, no matter what you were doing?" or "just how bad was it to wash clothes with tubs and mangles?" - well...read this book to hear from one who has!! It was amazing - so many of us history buffs wish we could 'go back for a while & live in that time' - Ms. Goodman has done it!! Her research is spot on, her 'user' commentary is thoughtful and realistic - this was a fun book to read & one of those books that you look forward to when enough time passes so that you can read it again!! I was able to...Read more

I found this book absolutely fascinating. It's all about the everyday things you wonder about but don't get to learn from most history books - how you would have kept yourself clean, washed your hair, done laundry, cooked, cleaned, etc. The author's experience living as a Victorian in BBC reality shows has enriched this book immensely. She tells us that corsets are surprisingly comfortable, although itchy, and describes how you had to learn to sit and move properly in a crinoline or bustle. The tricks and etiquette of using chamber pots, how privies were kept clean and sweet smelling, dealing with menstruation, looking after babies, cooking on a coal range are all covered. I would recommend this book to anyone who finds the small details of the past as interesting as I do.