How to Be a Victorian

This is a book full of wonderful details which can be hard to find elsewhere. What did Victorians brush their teeth with? What did it actually feel like to wear a corset? What was the best way to empty a chamber pot?

The book is structured as a day in the life and covers a range of areas – health, food, household work, clothing, sex. It gives an insight into the author’s own experience of living like a Victorian and is an ideal book for historical novelists, written with first-hand knowledge and real enthusiasm.

One of the first nonfiction books I ever read about the Victorian period when I started writing, it is still my go-to reference book. I love its simplicity and the personal point of view comments from the author who is an historian who has recreated aspects of Victorian life for herself. I find the book both enchanting and interesting. It is one of my all-time favorite factual books.

I adore immersive, hands-on history. Gordan took me on an intimate, hour-by-hour tour of a Victorian day, from the morning wash routine to the five-minute hair-brushing ritual at bedtime. She tested the power of the natural bristle brush; I’ll take it on faith that one can go weeks without shampooing.

Ever wonder how Victorians cleaned their teeth before Colgate? Coal soot is the surprising answer.  From what they ate to how they dressed, worked, and played, Gordon charts differences across social classes and down the century. 

Until I read this book, I never fully appreciated how rotten life would be like if I were a working-class person living in England in the 19th century: grueling work, inadequate clothing, contaminated milk, and no hope for improving my lot.

Goodman doesn’t complain; she gives (copious) facts. What an eye-opening book for people accustomed to books and movies that portray upper-class life of the period!

I came away grateful for freedom and social mobility.