The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton
By Kathryn HughesWe each of us strive for domestic bliss - the perfect marriage, the perfect home, the perfect family - and we may look to Delia and Nigella to give us tips on achieving the unattainable. Kathryn Hughes has pulled back the curtains to look at Mrs Beeton, the creator of the ultimate book on keeping house.
In Victorian England what did every middle-class house-wife need to create the perfect home? The Book of Household Management. 'Oh, but of course!' Mrs Beeton would no doubt declare with brisk authority. But Mrs Beeton is not quite the matronly figure that has kept her name resonating 150 years after the publication of 'The Book of Household Management'.
Those famous pages of carefully costed recipes, warnings about not gossiping to visitors, and making sure you always keep your hat on in someone else's house - indispensible in the molding of the Victorian domestic bliss. But there are many myths surrounding the legend of Mrs Beeton. It is very possible that her book was given so much social standing through fear, as she was believed to be a bit of an old dragon.
It seems though that Mrs Beeton was a series of contradictions. Kathryn Hughes reveals here that Bella Beeton was actually a million miles away from the stoical, middle-aged matron. She was in fact only 25 years old when she created the guide to successful family living and had only had five years experience of her own to inform her. Sadly, two of her children died. She lived in a semi-detached house in Pinner with the bare minimum of servants. She bordered on being a workaholic. Not the meek and mild little wife that her book was aimed at - more a highly intelligent and ambitious young woman. After preaching about wholesome and clean living, Bella Beeton died at the age of 28 from (contrary to her parent's belief) bad hygiene. Kathryn Hughes sympathetically explores the irony behind Bella Beeton's public and private image in this highly readable and informative study of Victorian life style.
Buy The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton by Kathryn Hughes at Attic books in Nairobi Kenya.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 525 pages
- English
- 1841153737
- 9781841153735
About Kathryn Hughes
kathryn hughes was Read More about Kathryn Hughes
More Books By Kathryn Hughes
People who bought this also bought
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing People (with featured article
New Book
Bhagavad-Gita As It Is book by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda
Used Book
Sew It! : Make 17 Projects with Yummy Precut Fabric?Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Charm Packs AND Fat Quarters
Used Book
Before the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833 book by Charles Tyng
Used Book
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo
New Book
Power, the Presidency, and the Preamble : Interpretive Essays on Selected Presidents of the United States
Used Book
By What Authority? : Primer on Scripture, the Magisterium, a
Used Book
The Lazy Man's Way to Riches: Dyna/Psyc can give you everything in the world you really want!
Used Book