Search
Search results
ClareR (6101 KP) rated Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World in Books
Apr 28, 2019
An independent woman in a time where it was frowned upon
This is a lovely story of a female swimmer in Victorian times: Daisy Belle. A child, and later a woman, who very much knows what she wants: to be in the water, swimming and competing. I honestly got the impression that she would stay in the water if she could. We see some of the constraints of the time: women were ruled by their fathers and husbands, but we also see that women were starting to assert their independence wherever they could. And for Daisy, this was in the water.
I believe a lot of the research for this story was set around some very well known Victorian female swimmers. These women were performers, performing feats of daring and endurance, something that men thought them incapable of. Daisy proves this theory wrong.
There was a point in the story where I thought all was lost for Daisy, but it all comes good in the end, much to my relief. I really liked her. Some of the men, apart from her brother, were not particularly nice people.
In all, a really good read - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This was read on The Pigeonhole in August/ September 2018.
I believe a lot of the research for this story was set around some very well known Victorian female swimmers. These women were performers, performing feats of daring and endurance, something that men thought them incapable of. Daisy proves this theory wrong.
There was a point in the story where I thought all was lost for Daisy, but it all comes good in the end, much to my relief. I really liked her. Some of the men, apart from her brother, were not particularly nice people.
In all, a really good read - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This was read on The Pigeonhole in August/ September 2018.
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners in Books
Oct 31, 2018 (Updated Oct 31, 2018)
Such glorious fun!
I love this author's writing style. It isn't a recitation of dry facts as some historical nonfiction books can be. She really takes you into the daily rituals associated with fashion, hygiene, sex, marriage, and manners by immersing you in the culture as a virtual time traveler visiting the Victorian era. It brushes away the romance of the time period and gets you into the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty history but in a fun and frivolous way as she takes you into her confidence and shares the secrets of the past. It's a delightful romp written with light sarcasm that brought tears from laughter into my eyes. I highly recommend this book and this author. She has written another book on the history of child-rearing called Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent's Guide to Raising Flawless Children (Hardcover), which will be available April 16, 2019. Though I don't have children, I'm tempted to buy this book because the other was so much fun.
Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
There Must be Evil: The Life and Murderous Career of Elizabeth Berry
8.0
Rate It
Book
In 1887, Elizabeth Berry, an attractive young nurse from the grim Oldham workhouse, found notoriety...
Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay Archipelago
John Van Wyhe and Kees Rookmaaker
Book
This volume brings together the letters of the great Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace...
TT
Traumatic Tales: British Nationhood and National Trauma in Nineteenth-Century Literature
Book
Traumatic Tales: British Nationhood and National Trauma in Nineteenth-Century Literature explores...
BR
Bradshaw's Railway Handbook, 1866: v. 1: London and Its Environs (Kent, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Devon, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight)
Book
Bradshaw's Railway Handbook was originally published in 1866 under the title Bradshaw's Handbook for...
British Urban Trees: A Social and Cultural History 1800-1914
Book
Greening the Victorian Urban WorldWhether we consider the great London Planes which are now the...
ClareR (6101 KP) rated Victorian Psycho in Books
Feb 28, 2026
Unhinged. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of Victorian Psycho. I mean she is. A psycho, that is.
Is it nature or nurture? Macabre, blood thirsty thoughts go through her mind, and to begin with I wasn’t sure if she was “thinking” or “doing”. Comedy horror, except dark, dark comedy, this book made me laugh as well as cringe. Victorian repression let loose with homicidal mania. To be perfectly honest, these people deserve it. Uptight snobs who treat servants terribly, and the servants let them because they need the job. Not the Nanny. She’s taking none of their nonsense.
The question running through my mind as I was reading wasn’t: “Will she murder someone horrifically?”. It was more: When and how will she murder someone, and who will she start with? It’s going to be horrific!” And it’s not who you’d think.
A dark, dark read with a touch of Dickensian social commentary. The Nanny is an antihero who I ended up backing, of course. Please don’t judge me - I don’t condone murder of the rich though! 🫢
Great writing and well worth a read. Just close your eyes during the most blood-thirsty parts *nods sagely*.
Is it nature or nurture? Macabre, blood thirsty thoughts go through her mind, and to begin with I wasn’t sure if she was “thinking” or “doing”. Comedy horror, except dark, dark comedy, this book made me laugh as well as cringe. Victorian repression let loose with homicidal mania. To be perfectly honest, these people deserve it. Uptight snobs who treat servants terribly, and the servants let them because they need the job. Not the Nanny. She’s taking none of their nonsense.
The question running through my mind as I was reading wasn’t: “Will she murder someone horrifically?”. It was more: When and how will she murder someone, and who will she start with? It’s going to be horrific!” And it’s not who you’d think.
A dark, dark read with a touch of Dickensian social commentary. The Nanny is an antihero who I ended up backing, of course. Please don’t judge me - I don’t condone murder of the rich though! 🫢
Great writing and well worth a read. Just close your eyes during the most blood-thirsty parts *nods sagely*.
Bird (1704 KP) rated Taboo - Season 1 in TV
Apr 27, 2017
Pre-Victorian London has never looked so beautifully squalid! (4 more)
Tom Hardy unsurprisingly excels in the powerful lead role of a violent low-lifer
Genuinely fascinating insight into the broad history of the time
Strong performances all-round
An almost monochrome visual that transforms you to a dark place you're glad you can leave at the end of each episode!
A bit of a slow burner - you don't mind leaving the room for a few minutes knowing you probably wont miss that much (1 more)
A few (undeliberate?) loose ends, but maybe saved for Season 2?
Gloomy And Brutal With A Dash Of Sweeney Todd
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated A Spy in the House (The Agency, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
In the words of Y. S. Lee:
<blockquote>"Women's choices were grim in those days, even for the clever. If a top secret women's detective agency existed in Victorian England, it left no evidence--just as well, since that would cast serious doubt on its competence. The Agency is a totally unrealistic, completely fictitious antidote to the fate that would otherwise swallow a girl like Mary Quinn."</blockquote>
An easy and interesting read, with an intriguing protagonist in Mary Quinn. The plot and characters easily kept my attention and I look forward to the others in the series.
<blockquote>"Women's choices were grim in those days, even for the clever. If a top secret women's detective agency existed in Victorian England, it left no evidence--just as well, since that would cast serious doubt on its competence. The Agency is a totally unrealistic, completely fictitious antidote to the fate that would otherwise swallow a girl like Mary Quinn."</blockquote>
An easy and interesting read, with an intriguing protagonist in Mary Quinn. The plot and characters easily kept my attention and I look forward to the others in the series.