Victorian House [Paperback]

Judith Flanders (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2004

The bestselling social history of Victorian domestic life, told through the letters, diaries, journals and novels of 19th-century men and women. The Victorian age is both recent and unimaginably distant. In the most prosperous and technologically advanced nation in the world, people carried slops up and down stairs; buried meat in fresh earth to prevent mould forming; wrung sheets out in boiling water with their bare hands. This drudgery was routinely performed by the parents of people still living, but the knowledge of it has passed as if it had never been. Running water, stoves, flush lavatories -- even lavatory paper -- arrived slowly throughout the century, and most were luxuries available only to the prosperous. Judith Flanders, author of the widely acclaimed 'A Circle of Sisters', has written an incisive and irresistible portrait of Victorian domestic life. The book itself is laid out like a house, following the story of daily life from room to room: from childbirth in the master bedroom, through the scullery, kitchen and dining room -- cleaning, dining, entertaining -- on upwards, ending in the sickroom and death. Through a collage of diaries, letters, advice books, magazines and paintings, Flanders shows how social history is built up out of tiny domestic details. Through these we can understand the desires, motivations and thoughts of the age. Many people today live in Victorian terraces, and so the houses themselves are familiar, but the lives are not. 'The Victorian House' will change all that.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Judith Flanders is the Mary Poppins of academic toil. "Spit spot", she says, and suddenly you have!amusing information!the delight of this book is the intelligence and freshness of its inferences.' Lynne Truss, Sunday Times 'A God-among-loo-books!here, the past is not so much a foreign country as another planet!there is not a single piece of trivia here that I don't feel better for knowing.' Time Out 'An enthralling, entertaining and thought-provoking revelation of the realities of life in the tall, thin, Victorian town house.' Evening Standard 'This book is a splendidly entertaining read, and it also breaks new ground. No one has ever written so interestingly or wittily about housework.' Spectator 'Rich and well ordered, this study casts brilliant light!Curious facts tumble from the pages.' Economist '[Flanders] explores [Victorian's] minds through the fascinating minutiae of their lives and through that detail we glimpse the bigger history. Turn off the TV and read this instead.' The Sunday Business Post 'This rich book is a shining example of how history might be made entertaining and engrossing, as well as informative. Flanders has crammed and incredible amount of detailed research into this book which will become an invaluable reference for other historians.' The Glasgow Herald 'The delight of this book! is the intelligence and freshness of its inferences.' The Sunday Times 'Judith Flanders' artful arrangement of fascinating facts brings new life to people (mostly female) and places (all domestic) that traditional history ignored.' Literary Review

About the Author

Judith Flanders is the author of critically acclaimed 'A Circle of Sisters' (2001) -- a biography of Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynder and Louisa Baldwin -- which was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award, and 'Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian England' (2006). She is a frequent contributor to the 'Daily Telegraph', the 'Guardian', the 'Evening Standard', and the TLS.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007131895
• ISBN-13: 978-0007131891
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful survey of daily life in 1800s Britain, November 18, 2004

By 

saskatoonguy (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victorian House (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful survey of British social history in the 1800s - how people actually lived their lives day to day. Drawing from every possible historical source, the author describes what life was like for well-to-do Brits in the Victorian era, with a particular emphasis on London. Her theme is to take the reader through an upper-crust house room by room: One chapter on the kitchen, one on the scullery, one on the parlour, and so on. I found it utterly fascinating.

Victorian England is not exactly ancient history, yet it is amazing how different life was then, and how unpleasant (by our standards) life was even for the wealthy. For instance, people tolerated incredible filth. Even among the well-to-do, coal dust coated every interior surface, clothing was heavy and dirty, and baths were infrequent. London fogs were so thick that pedestrians would bump into things. Food was extremely bland even for the elite, and it was thought that feeding vegetables to children would stir up sexual interest. Most surprising of all, women rarely questioned their inferior status. It was generally accepted that women were mentally and physically weak, and women themselves seemed to accept this with little questioning. The amount of change during the last century, in both material and non-material ways, is mind-boggling.

Incidentally, this book appears to be identical to "Inside the Victorian Home" by the same author.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Astoundingly Engaging, October 31, 2003

By 

David Wineberg "David Wineberg" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victorian House (Hardcover)

Although the fifty page intro was a bit sluggish, it fortunately did not represent the rest of the book. Flanders devotes a chapter to each room in the stereotypical Victorian house, plus one for The Street. Her research gives new meaning to the word "depth". She has mined non fiction, letters, fiction,and just about anything that could possibly add insight to life in that very rigid time. The result is a wealth of analysis, as well as wonderful trivia (People did not want newfangled toilets in their bathrooms because bathrooms were clean!). From the weight of women's clothing (37 pounds), to the ways households detected adulteration in their food, and the number of mail deliveries per day (10-12), The Victorian House is a treasure trove of information. The three sections of colour plates add visual evidence to Flanders' text, and the whole thing is remarkably focused trip through this world.

I have no reservations about recommending this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mrs. Beeton Would Be Proud of Judith Flanders, September 23, 2006

By 

Lori A. Pattillo "BookWorm" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victorian House (Paperback)

Like a well-run Victorian home, Judith Flanders has carefully placed each aspect of Victorian life in it's "proper place" with this thoroughly engaging book. Dedicating an entire chapter to each room of the 19th century Victorian English home(Nursery, Scullery, Kitchen,Bathroom, Parlour, Sickroom and so on), Flanders uses each room as a case-study of Victorian English life, from birth to death (and everything in-between). Flander's book draws you in to the era completely with an unromanticized glimpse into the life of average Victorians-not just the wealthy-and through a copious use of contemporary material(e.g. letters, newspapers, advertisements, diaries andliterature). All of this lends an authenticity that at times proves disarming...The details of laundry-day and the immense work involved in basic housekeeping and meal preparation are utterly amazing! After finishing "The Victorian House", I stood in awe of my household appliances and remembered the adage, "The Good Old Days...Are Now".