Books
by Kathryn Hughes
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The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton |
Kathryn Hughes' best work is this marvellous biography of the legendary Mrs Beeton, whose comfortable, matronly image never fades but who was just 21, with only six months' experience of running a house, when she began her Book of Household Management. Her culinary reputation has never diminished, kept alive by her publishers and her insatiable readers, and thanks to this biography we now know what superhuman energy produced such a work, as she struggled with every kind of trouble in her personal life.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 98 Autumn 2020) |
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The Victorian Governess |
A familiar figure in 19th C. novels, but much less is known about her in the 'real world'. This rare study provides a key to the Victorian concept of 'the lady' and what it meant to be, or alas, not to be one, and highlights the problems of female identity and place in society, still not completely solved today. A scholarly, highly readable study presenting little-known information and statistics and a wealth of social-historical details and it is beautifully illustrated.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 98 Autumn 2020) |
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Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum |
A 'pregnancy' in Victoria's court, Darwin's beard, George Eliot's right hand, attributes of one of Dante Gabriel Rosetti's favourite models and the brutal murder of little Fanny Adams are considered in turn, ostensibly for the light they throw on Victorian attitudes to the body. Some interesting insights do result but the book's main appeal - which is considerable - is in the particular and gripping tales which they unfold.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 88 Spring 2018) |
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