If Walls Could Talk

An Intimate History of the Home

By: Lucy Worsley

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two "dirty centuries?" Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did rich people fear fruit?In her brilliantly and creatively researched book, Lucy Worsley takes us through the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen. She covers the history of each room and explores what people actually did in bed, in the bath, at the table, and at the stove-from sauce stirring to breastfeeding, teeth cleaning to masturbation, getting dressed to getting married-providing a compelling account of how the four rooms of the home have evolved from medieval times to today.

©2011 Silver River Productions and Lucy Worsley (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Who could not be enthralled by the history of toilet paper? Anyone who lives in a home with a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom will delight in reading this history of the development of home life." ( Kirkus)

Immensely Interesting & Entertaining

From the configuration of rooms and how people used them through the ages to a discussion of tableware, and so much more including where common expressions came from, “upper crust” from how bread was baked and served, each chapter is a delight of information. Easy to listen to. If you have an interest in history, sociology, trivia, you’ll find this perfect.

Another great domestic history

Where does If Walls Could Talk rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I love nonfiction, particularly histories about everyday things/ people-- so this was right up my alley. I have to say, it's VERY similar to Bill Bryson's At Home (which I found ten times more entertaining)-- although had I not read that book, I would have liked this one even more.

What did you like best about this story?

The information. There's a ton of history packed into each chapter-- very enlightening and fun.

Have you listened to any of Anne Flosnik’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

She did a great job, but I could have done without all the accents-- began to get on my nerves very early.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really. Not because it was dull-- just unnecessary with nonfiction books.

Any additional comments?

I wish I had turned it off at the end of the last real chapter-- before the author went on a bizarre soapbox rant about the horrors of the future.

Enjoyable and informative.

As with all of Lucy Worsley’s material, I enjoyed the educational, practical and interesting facets of history she included. Her ability to mix information, candor and supreme use of language is superb. I recommend this to any Lucy Worsley fan, as well as anyone who lives in a house, eats food, or uses the restroom!

Never Look At Your Own Home the Same Way Again

Sometimes the missing link between history and our appreciation of it is that personal touch. Names and dates are all well and good, but cause and effect mean so much more. In this way we see how things evolve from then to now. With this book, the appreciation of history is all about appreciating just how good you've really got it by comparison of your ancestors. After reading this book, I defy you to willingly allow farm animals to sleep in your living room floor at night, and I challenge you to believe that life would be better off if your kitchen and/or personal relief facilities were detached from your house, especially in times of bad weather. This and SO much more is explored herein. Most of what we know to be common features of the home are relatively new, and understanding the way things used to be paints a better understanding of what it was like to live in earlier times. After listening to this, I certainly feel like a king in my own castle.

My thoughts.

Wonderful reading of historical facts about events and life in the times. I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the subject.

Anne Flosnik has the most irritating accent

Between her little girl voice and the fake(?) accent, she ruins everything she reads. Too bad she reads so much i want to hear. I avoid her books.

Great book, poor reading

If you could sum up If Walls Could Talk in three words, what would they be?

If you like history, and the odd anecdotes that make it really fascinating, this book has it in spades. It does wander off its core path to explain historical minutiae, but that is part of the fun. Also, it is told from a very British point of view that may be a touch jarring to an American reader.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator had a very high, quiet, breathy voice that I do not prefer for Audiobooks. Also, she was terrible with accents. Her German, Russian and Arabian were identical, and her American was not even as close as I have heard British comics using as jokes.

Any additional comments?

The Author debunks several common misunderstandings about the origins of certain words and phrases that 'everyone' thinks they know the true story on.

Amazing

loved it from the beginning to the end. I have also listened to it many more times extremely interesting and well put together a must for anyone that loves history

Bill Bryson did it better

I found this book irritating. For one it comes across as a compilation of different articles written at different times, because she will mention one tidbit as myth and then later, mention that same bit of information as truth. This was the case with Anne of Cleaves. I studied this period in college and was amazed someone with a PhD would do something so silly. Not just once but at least twice dragging out contradictory information. Secondly, it seemed a little too focused on the aristocracy and their homes. Some mention would be made about the middling and lower classes, but this seemed to be more of a history of the homes of the royal and wealthy.
The narrator has a limited range when capturing voices of other persons/characters when quoting. She gives you enough to know that it is a quote, but no so much that it seems to capture the person. Otherwise, she was ok with the straight reading. If you are determined to buy this listen to the sample and imagine listening to 8 hours of it.
Lastly, this book had me yearning to listen to Bill Bryson's 'At Home' again, which I found to be far more entertaining.

Informative

This was an informative and entertaining book until the last chapter; when the author turned from historian to prophet.