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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprises abound in this look at writing and women, August 27, 2006
This review is from: The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton (Hardcover)
There used to be a time that if you were a newlywed young woman in Britain or the vast reaches of the Commonwealth, one of the presents you were likely to recieve at your wedding was a book. It was usually a rather thick and massive book, full of tidbits of what was expected of the middle class lady of the house, how to prepare meals, instructions for handling servants, or at least the daily help, simple medical and scientific information, and being a general 'help all' book that was aimed at a single niche market. By the turn of the twentieth century, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management was up to nearly two thousand pages, and was as firmly a part of the British psyche as the Queen. But who was Mrs. Beeton? Since there had not been any sort of author blurb that has become standard in most books today, imaginations ran riot as to just who she was. Was she an advertising image, such as the modern 'Betty Crocker'? Or perhaps she was like today's Martha Stewart, dominant and stern, ready to reprimand the slightest slip in domestic caretaking. And Mrs. Beeton has survived into the modern day, there are still books being published with her name on them, full of advice on cooking, cleaning and the suchlike. Kathryn Hughes' book The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton takes on both the topic and the book, giving the reader a glimpse into middle class English life in the nineteenth century and a very intriguing woman. Born into a numerous family -- Isabella would have more than twenty full, half and step-siblings -- Bella Mayson grew up as a caretaker of her mother's numerous brood, and still managed to gain an education and found herself with a flair for foreign languages. She was also bright, witty and blessed with a certain charm and prettiness, all desireable qualities in a woman, and soon Isabella had a suitor: Sam Beeton. If Isabella was sensible and practical, then Sam was the high-flyer of the pair. Full of schemes and ideas, but rarely having the luck of foresight to get the best out of himself or the product, Sam instead worked at a feverish pace, and sometimes wasn't above using shameless self-promotion. He also faced stern opposition from Bella's family, who thought that he did not and would not have the means to support Bella properly. But the young couple were in love, and Hughes uses their letters to one another to show a courtship that was full of passionate feelings, and despite everything, they were wed and soon setting up house together. Sam was starting to show promise as a printer and publisher, and the couple were looking forward to starting their own family. But tragedy hit in the form of a long series of stillbirths and miscarriages for Bella, and it was no doubt to distract herself that she turned to writing an advice and homemaking column in Sam's magazine, "The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine," which would form the nucleus of the later Book of Household Management. Both Sam and Bella kept up a feverish pace, both home and abroad, and Bella would become influential at writing and marketing the latest fashions from Paris, developing a chic style of her own. A dark secret was lurking at the center of the marriage, one that would explain the failure of Bella's children to thrive -- Sam had contracted syphilis during his bachelor days and transmitted it to Bella in the early days of their marriage. It is quite likely that the doctors nor Sam ever told her that she was infected, and that combined with the never-ending stress of working and managing a home as well as numerous pregnancies would end with her death at the age of twenty-eight. Sam's career would continue on a downward spiral, with one hideous incident of pornography ruining his business and the tertiary stages of syphilis cutting his own life short. But Mrs. Beeton's Book would become a bestseller, but neither Bella nor Sam ever saw a profit from it. In more capable hands, it went through revisions, new editions, and changes, and conversely, would recieve a critical battering in the twentieth century and be known as the 'book that ruined British cookery' as tastes changed to a more Mediterranean style of diet. Researchers claimed that Beeton had cribbed most of her recipes that formed the bulk of the book -- more than 900 pages worth in later editions -- and that the book was mere fluff, and badly written fluff at that. Hughes work in this is fluid and entertaining, detailing the life of Isabella Beeton, her husband, and two surviving sons. Small chapters called "interludes" take the various myths about the Book, and show the truth that lay behind it. But this is more than a biography of a woman and a book. Hughes also looks at the sexual mores of the time, religious attitudes, the rise of consumer culture and the middle class, and the use of cheap magazines in both advertising and education. It's a fascinating read for anyone who thinks that they know what the Victorians were all about and the cult of the homemaker -- I found my assumptions challenged over and over again, and Hughes uses a particularly dry wit in talking about her subjects. There are several line drawings, several photographs of both Bella and Sam, and an extensive set of footnotes and bibliography that will encourage further research. Hughes draws on surviving journals, letters, newspapers, court documents and contemporary authors to flesh out her story and manages to remain objective throughout it all. This book was very entertaining to read, and helps to show that sometimes things never change. The sections on the use of magazines I found fascinating. For anyone interested in the art of the domestic goddess this is a welcome addition to their libraries. Happily recommended.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A vibrant portrait of evolving Victorian society, June 3, 2006
This review is from: The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton (Hardcover)
Thumbing through a hefty copy of "Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management" you form a picture of the author as an authoritative, practical, middle-aged Victorian matron, the very image of respectable domesticity. But except for her practicality, nothing could be further from the truth. Isabella Beeton was dead before she was 30. The book that made her a household name in Britain was published when she was 24. She didn't know much about running a household - with or without servants - and according to her biographer, Kathryn Hughes, she wasn't much interested either. She would no doubt be astonished to hear that her book is still in print almost 150 years later. A young wife with strong organizational skills, Isabella's goal was simply to help keep her husband's publishing business solvent and growing. Hers was the first of a branded series of useful "Beeton Books" for the middle classes, which came to include "Beeton's Illustrated Bible" and "Beeton's Book of Universal Information." That she took to the work is clear - she was correcting proofs on her deathbed at age 28. Immediately after her marriage to Sam Beeton, Isabella threw herself into the publishing business, writing domestic advice columns (on any subject required) for his "Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine." But it wasn't until the birth of her first healthy son (after the death of her first child in infancy and a probable string of miscarriages - Hughes makes the case that Sam infected Isabella with syphilis) that she officially began working full time, appearing at the office and recognized as "Editress." Although Isabella was as methodical and levelheaded as her husband was impulsive and reckless, necessity may not have been her only motive for such unconventional behavior. She may not have known much about running a household, but she knew more than her share about chores and childcare. Growing up, Isabella had been the eldest girl in a blended family of 21 children. A sketch by her mother shows Isabella as a calm presence among the brood, "age 12 going on twenty-five." Isabella emerges from Hughes' lively, engaging, meticulously researched biography as a conventional Victorian girl who accepts her lot in life with reasonable grace. Until along comes an opportunity for escape from domesticity, by instructing others in how to excel at it. But how, you might wonder, does a 20-something author sound authoritative on matters ranging from handling dinner parties for 60 and training servants to trussing a turkey and properly ventilating the home? She steals from her elders, that's how. Though Isabella developed a distinctive voice and demonstrated a formidable talent for organization and assembly, much of her famous book is cobbled directly from her predecessors. But Hughes' book is much more than a biography of an ambitious plagiarist cut off in her budding prime. It's a colorful and energetic exploration of Victorian society in the midst of rapid change. Industrialization had expanded and urbanized the middle class and cheap printing processes revolutionized access to information and entertainment. Parallels to today's rapid advances in information technology abound, particularly in the areas of copyright and specialization. Isabella was more cautious stealing from living authors than dead ones and Sam made his first fortune from a pirated edition of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Copyright laws existed but were disputed between Britain and the U.S. and the volume of printed material expanded more rapidly than the legal system. And the appetite for printed material seemed boundless. The Beetons zeroed in on the expanding middle class, people - and their servants - who lived in newly urbanized domiciles and welcomed advice on coping and correct behavior. As Hughes goes through Beeton's book - prefacing chapters with often hilarious quotes - she shows how Isabella cleverly aimed her advice at those doing the work, be it the servant or the housewife, recognizing the fuzziness of changing boundaries without dwelling on them. She embodies the ideal household while providing solid, practical information, allowing her reader her fantasies. It's a big, complex book, but, like her subject, Hughes is a formidable organizer. Her authorial voice is strong, with a wide streak of humor, and an illustrative style. Her affection for Isabella shines clear, but without a drop of idealization, while her vibrant portrait of Victorian daily life and social changes and trends emerges from a broad and natural context. A gem of a book on many levels, Hughes de-mythologizes an icon and gives us a woman, a family, a society, and the creation of a legend. --Portsmouth Herald
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
delicious story of the first domestic goddess, May 5, 2006
This review is from: The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton (Hardcover)
Mrs Beeton was a woman for our age. Possessed of more money than time, she advised the rising middle class of Victorian England how to cook everything, keep house, garden--all things for which we today turn to Martha. It's delightful to read how the past compares with our present, and also how even in a simpler time one woman with an idea could create one of the first media empires. This thoroughly researched, captivatingly written story is an immersion in the world of Victorian society, one woman's improbable success (achieved before she died in childbirth in her mid-twenties). A real gem that puts our modern obssession with hearth and home in fascinating light.
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