Customer Reviews

Women at Home in Victorian America: A Social History

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This is an amazing book. I have been searching for a book like this for many years and just happened to stumble across it. I would like a copy of my own, but am unable to buy one due to the price.

This book gives a lot of detail about the lives of Victorian women. Some of the information people will have read before in other books, but this one combines what you may have read in other books and adds new information as well. Within this book there are some primary source documents such as diary entries and also excerpts from journals during the time. Some of the topics that are written about are: a woman's life span, child, woman, motherhood and old age(and what is expected of them), knitting, daily tasks, furniture that would be appropriate for a parlor and how to behave, plus much more.

This book is a MUST HAVE for those interested in Victorian society. Writers and people doing research will find this book a valuable tool. Those who are interested in Victorian women and have no history background will find this book an easy read.

I strongly suggest you borrow this book from the library and then if you find it a great tool buy your own copy. This book is a gem.

This book is an essential in regards to learning about being a woman in American Victorian times. The author has done her homework and I'm rereading it for research. Ellen Plante explains the lifestyle regarding the Victorian wife and daughter in American society. Things were not so easy even with luxuries such as washing machines, dishwashers, and iceboxes. Before those inventions, the Victorian housewife's utmost duty was toward her husband, children, and church. I am surprised that this book is no longer in print and should be re-issued. It explained women's lives during this difficult time period in American life. Regardless, the woman did not have it as easy as we might expect. Their home was their lives. They were expected to be subservient to the husband. The author points out parallels between the plantation wives and the slaves as if they are to serve only one master. We know from history and research that plantation masters had slaves as mistresses and fathered children completely disregarding their wives at times.