Unmentionable : the Victorian Lady's guide to sex, marriage, and manners Cover Image

Book

Unmentionable : the Victorian Lady's guide to sex, marriage, and manners / Therese Oneill.

Summary:

"A scandalously honest guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood. "If Unmentionable does not secure the Pulitzer Prize for Most Fascinating Book Ever, the whole gig is rigged. Therese Oneill opens the doors to everything we secretly wanted to know about the Victorian era, but didn't think to ask. Knickers with no crotches? Check. Arsenic as a facial scrub? Check. The infrequency of bathing and the stench of the Victorian human body? Check mate." -- provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9780316357913
ISBN: 031635791X
Physical Description: 307 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Little, Brown and Company, [2016]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-307).

Formatted Contents Note:

Hello, slattern -- Getting dressed : how to properly hide your shame -- Bowels into buckets : nature is an obscene caller -- The treacherous art of bathing -- Menstruation : you're doing it wrong -- Diet : you're a little bag of pudding -- Beauty : scorch, slather, and stuff -- Courtship : not-talking your way into his heart -- The wedding night, or : A bad bit of bumbo -- Birth control and other affronts to God -- Being a good wife : how to avoid his eventual resentment for as long as possible -- Running a proper household : the gentle art of dictatorship -- Public behavior : avoiding scorn, dangers, and museums -- It's hysterical : the least funny thing about Victorian life -- The secret vice : "Where warts and tiny nipples come from" -- Conclusion : I miss pants.