Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners came out this week. It sounds very humorous, but also seems like it will impart good information about life in the Victorian era as well.
“Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there’s arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn’t question.)
“UNMENTIONABLE is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on:
- ~ What to wear
- ~ Where to relieve yourself
- ~ How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating
- ~ What to expect on your wedding night
- ~ How to be the perfect Victorian wife
- ~ Why masturbating will kill you
- ~ And more
The chapter titles are hilarious, and I love that in the opening, the author addresses the book’s readers as “Slatterns.”
Let’s peek at some reviews of the book:
I Shall Faint: ‘Unmentionable’ Unpacks Victorian Womanhood (NPR)
And you can visit the author’s official page for the book.
You might also enjoy Salon.com’s “Stop Romanticing the Victorian Era! article and author interview.