Unmentionable

The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners

By: Therese Oneill

Narrated by: Betsy Foldes Meiman

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era?

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, 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

Irresistibly charming, laugh-out-loud funny, Unmentionable will inspire a whole new level of respect for Elizabeth Bennett, Scarlett O'Hara, Jane Eyre, and all of our great-great-grandmothers.

(And it just might leave you feeling ecstatically grateful to live in an age of pants, superabsorbency tampons, epidurals, antidepressants, and not dying of the syphilis your husband brought home.)

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2016 Therese Oneill (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A down-and-dirty perusal of the realities of hygiene and womanhood in the Victorian era. The truth behind slimming corsets, virtuous nuptials, and strict morals is sometimes shocking, occasionally alarming, but always funny with Oneill's wry commentary." ( Library Journal)

"Flat-out hysterical (and occasionally alarming).... Read it and be very, very glad you're a woman of modern times." ( Good Housekeeping)

"Oneill uncovers the filthy, untidy, licentious conditions of 19th-century women's lives that novelists of the period often glossed over." ( Elle)

Wonderfully funny

I adored this book. It is so witty, so well read, full of fun and shocking facts any fan of the Victorian era will love.

Hard to enjoy but very well researched

It's filled with sarcastic comments and bitterness making it, most of the time, very hard to enjoy. I thought it would be a 19th century guide, and the criticism would be delivered in a more subtle way, but no. The author cannot deliver one single piece of information without mocking it, which turns out to be very annoying.

Starts out entertaining, grows tiresome

I was hoping for something far more historical in nature, and while I did find some interesting facts at the beginning of the book, the latter half became tiresome and hateful. Sarcasm is an excellent spice, but makes a poor main course.

Not the best

Not the best book, in the first couple chapters it mentions too much about bowel movements. Not exactly the humor that I was looking for....

Eww just be ready to think it

It I am referring to is all the Unmentionable information in the Victorian age that no one talked about during our favorite films and books.

Couldn't put it down

Highly fascinating read. really delves into the day to day of wealthy women. I would have preferred a bit more of the other classes' lives. There's also a bit of a patronizing affectation by the narrator and text which is awkward. It's very clearly a deliberate and effective literary tool, but still awkward to listen to.

Entertaining and informative

A well-researched exploration of women's life and health in the Victorian era that definitively de-romanticizes the time period. Topics covered included dress, marriage, masturbation, and menstruation, among others. The witty quips from the author to the reader, however, did become somewhat annoying - at some point I was more interested in the subject than the author's snarky commentary. Overall, would recommend this funny and informative read.

Funny and Informative

I now know more than I need or necessarily (in some cases) wanted to know about the private lives of Victorian Women! The narrators were engaging and the content was interesting! Good read!

Humorous, Fun and Educational

I very much enjoyed how this book took the tone of speaking directly to a modern woman, instead of simply pumping out a multitude of facts.
It is rare to learn and be entertained - this book accomplishes both, without talking down to you.

Ladies, we have it so good!

We really have come a long way, baby! This was so interesting. While I knew life was hard back then, I didn’t know the details. So many rules! So many ridiculous rules! And the male doctors! Try not to throw a fit in disgust, lest you be labeled hysterical. Totally worth a credit.