Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England

Front Cover
W. W. Norton & Company, 2004 - History - 499 pages
The Victorian age is much closer to us in time than we might believe. Yet at that time, in the most technologically advanced nation in the world, people buried meat in fresh earth to prevent mold forming and wrung sheets out in boiling water with their bare hands. Such household drudgery was routinely performed by the grandparents of people still living, but the knowledge of it has passed as if it had never been.

Judith Flanders's book is laid out like a Victorian house, taking you through the story of daily life from room to room. In each space she depicts the home's furnishings and decoration: from childbirth in the master bedroom, through the scullery and kitchen, the separate male and female domains of the drawing room and the parlor, and ending in the sickroom. A rich selection from diaries, letters, advice books, magazines, and paintings fills the rooms with the people and personalities of the age. 100 illustrations, 3 8-page color inserts.
 

Contents

I
3
II
37
III
64
IV
100
V
130
VI
168
VII
214
VIII
253
X
324
XI
340
XII
390
XIII
417
XIV
451
XV
475
XVI
479
Copyright

IX
292

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About the author (2004)

Judith Flanders is the author of A Circle of Sisters, which was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. She lives in London.

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