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How to Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life
Ruth Goodman
2014, 458 pages
Nonfiction
In 1850, William Thackery coined the term “the great unwashed,” which quickly came to describe the Victorian working class. The fact that few people bathed regularly until the end of Queen Victoria’s reign is horrifying to us today, but Ruth Goodman successfully proves that this actually was a smart choice on the part of the Victorians (and surprisingly unsmelly when paired with a daily sponge bath and extensive hair-brushing). Goodman, a freelance historian who has starred in multiple BBC educational documentaries about living in Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian and Wartime periods, actually lived as a Victorian would: getting up early, dressing as a respectable Victorian woman, and cooking and cleaning with period tools. Goodman’s research and experience of actual Victorian conditions bring light to why certain things the Victorians did were sensible, although they may seem strange to 21st-century eyes. (For example, it’s extremely difficult to light and regulate a Victorian stove. This may have led to the rise of a fried breakfast, which was easier to produce over direct heat.)
Goodman’s research shows throughout How to Be a Victorian, but the reader rarely gets bogged down in the details she provides. The writing is lively and informative, although more images from Goodman’s own experiences would have been appreciated. This book made me want to go out and watch the BBC documentaries Goodman has starred in, and I will be searching out more of her work.
