Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Once every so often I bring home a book from the library that my darling husband finds interesting enough to “borrow” from me and I won’t see it again until he has finished it. During his perusal he would get so excited about sharing what he has read that sometimes I cover my ears and shout “spoiler alert”.
Yup, we are an old, married couple alright.
Anyway, I’m not quite sure how I came about borrowing this book from my library, but I am happy I did.
I appreciate a thoroughly researched, no filters approach on how things really went down in one of the most fascinating eras of our time.
I have always been very interested in this era myself, as it was the starting point of my personal and academic journey to becoming a better writer and, of course, formally educated in the classics.
Truth be told, up until reading this book, the Victorian time period held a sort of fantasy fascination of what life could have been like back then. You know; beautiful dresses, long walks in breathtaking gardens, men with more manners than dirty thoughts and the idea of a more quiet and peaceful life.
I know, total fantasy.
The author has a great way of addressing delicate subjects head-on, but with an airy, witty touch that makes talking about them less uncomfortable and more humane, so to speak.
Also, no subject is too taboo, which facilitates a certain degree of trust in the reader towards the author.
I wish I could discuss some of the subjects the author discusses in her book, but then I would give away the most important thing: the enjoyment of reading it.
Overall, I truly enjoyed and appreciated this book. It also made for some rather funny conversation starters between myself and my coach, whom I bumped into on the subway while reading this book.
It is a delight and full of information that is useful in breaking the spell of the Romantic notion the Victorian era holds for many of us…in a witty and easy-going manner.
