Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill

Therese Oneill, known for her humor and history columns in The Atlantic and Jezebel, has put together a series of short essays on sex, marriage, childbirth, body image, clothing, and anything you could possibly want to know about women's lives during the Victorian era but were always too afraid to ask. From corsets and bathing to toilets and menstruation, no topic is off limits in Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners. 

In an era known for its romanticism, life for women was anything but. Unmentionable is peppered with illustrations and graphics from Victorian era publications and filled with quotes from male physicians and philosophers who have their fair share of thoughts on the menses and its correlation with hysteria. Oneill has put together a well-researched, thoughtful, hilariously snarky book filled with often horrifying and revelatory facts. The feminist in you will be happy you picked up this book.

Awful Ends: The British Museum Book Of Epitaphs by David M. Wilson

This is a unique book, an anthology of tombstone inscriptions. There are a few from literature but most from actual tombstones and cemetery dedications in England and the United States. These epitaphs provide an interesting and often amusing picture of life and attitude toward death from past centuries. Some of the sentiments expressed in these epitaphs are:

Trust in the afterlife--
"He raised with love that fragile flower
To Wake in bliss on high."

Admiration of Virtue--
"...A virtuous and amiable man..."

Expressions of Grief--
"My heart is like cabbage,
A cabbage cut in two..."

But more interesting are the epitaphs that express anger at death or honest appraisals of the dearly departed:

Weakness of the deceased--

"Here lies Peg, that drunken sot

Who dearly loved her jug and pot."

Financial condition--

"Here I like at the Chancel door

Here lie I because I'm poor."

Cause of death--

"His death...which was caused by stupidity of Laurence Tulloch who sold him nitre instead 

of Epsom salts."

Evil deeds--

"...and yet betrayed God's Holy Church for Mammon."

Awful Ends: The British Museum Book of Epitaphs by David M. Wilson is an unusual book of prose and poetry, approval and aspersion, praise and criticism. It must be read to be enjoyed. These few examples are the mere tip of the iceberg.

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

Teddy Todd was the favorite child of mother, father and aunt. Sweet-natured and accommodating, his favorite boyhood activity was walking through the countryside near his home. He loved his pets, literature and Nancy, the girl next door. As an adult he maintained the same accommodating nature and was rather apathetic about adult endeavors, particularly employment. Before World War II, for want of any other interest, he followed his father and older brother into banking. After the war, he worked for local magazines and newspapers and married Nancy just because it seemed to be the thing to do. He lived and died as his wife, and later his daughter, wanted him to. But during World War II, he was different. War inspired him to join the RAF, become a leader of men and fly bombing raids over Germany. The gentle man who loved flowers and animals and poetry found his calling in raining down destruction on civilian populations. In years to come, he, like many other war veterans, found that later generations (represented by his self-absorbed, unlikeable daughter, Viola) did not appreciate, and even disparaged, his service and accomplishments.

A God in Ruins is a companion piece to Kate Atkinson’s award winning book, Life After Life but also a contrast, particularly in the aspects of wartime bombing. In Life After Life, Atkinson skillfully and with horrifying detail created a London suffering through a ferocious effort to bomb its populace into submission. A God in Ruins examines war from the perspective of the young men who, in the face of great personal danger, flew many times over enemy territory, bombing its cities.

Much of the appeal of this book lies in the author’s great descriptive abilities. Whether it is fear and camaraderie in the fuselage of a British bomber, contentment in walking through the countryside, the comfort of huddling around the warm stove in a cold kitchen, revulsion at the horror of war casualties, grief for the dead, or annoyance and irritation caused by many people and situations, Atkinson easily puts the reader in the psyche and physical space of her characters. 

Middle C by William H. Gass

Middle C is unlike any other novel I have ever read.  The storytelling doesn’t unfold in typical linear fashion and because of this the reader becomes increasingly curious about how our narrator, Joseph Skizzen, gets from point A to point Z.  Joseph’s tale begins before he is even born, with his parents and sister living in their native Graz, Austria just before the dawn of World War II.  Sensing that the Nazis will soon be creating more than their fair share of problems in his homeland, Rudi Skizzen flees to London with his family by pretending that they are Jewish refugees.  Joseph is born shortly after their arrival and the Skizzen (now called Fixel) family manages to survive the Blitz.  Joseph’s father “reinvents” or renames himself several more times and then disappears mysteriously after the war.  After desperately searching for her husband, Joseph’s mother Miriam then manages to relocate herself and her two children to a small town in rural Ohio. 

And here is where Joseph’s story takes off.  We can see the two Skizzen children grow into their new lives as Americans.  Joseph is quiet and not particularly book-smart while his sister Debbie becomes a cheerleader and wants to be a part of all things fashionable.  Joseph begins to enjoy his piano lessons with a local teacher, but it is apparent that he is self-taught in playing popular tunes than anything else.  We are then shown a look at Joseph as an older man, one who has used the entire attic of his large home to house what he calls his “Inhumanity Museum” which is host to countless newspaper clippings spotlighting all manner of man’s terrible acts.  We bounce back and forth in time to see Joseph working as a high schooler in a music store, then as a college professor, then a college student, then as an assistant in a small town library.  Each sector of Joseph’s life creates another layer of lies he tells himself to continue on his way. 

I began this book thinking (due to the title) that it was about music.  And in many ways, music plays a big role in Joseph’s life.  But the result of Gass’s novel is so unlike any story I’ve seen told that it is hard to place my finger on what the biggest point of the narrative truly is.  Middle C  is a fascinating, careening tour through the mind of a seemingly ordinary man who lives a seemingly ordinary life but it is certainly an extraordinary novel. 

Snobs by Julian Fellowes

Many of you probably know that Julian Fellowes writes for the beloved English period drama Downton Abbey.  You may even know that he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film Gosford Park in 2002.  But did you know that he used to be an actor?  And that he's also a novelist?  His 2004 novel simply titled Snobs takes a look into a modern day Downton Abbey-type manor house.  But lest you think this book is all "Upstairs vs. Downstairs," let me assure you that it is not.  It is really about how the class system is very much alive and well in England to this day.  And how the aristocracy treats everyone else.  It is a comedy of manners- or perhaps, a lack-there-of.

Snobs is written mostly from the point of view of an actor who was born an aristocrat, and he tells the tale of Edith Lavery and the Broughtons, who hold the seat as to the Marquess of Uckfield.  Edith, who was brought up in an upper-middle class household by a mother who longed to be debutante, is a very attractive blonde who agrees to go along with her mother's plans for coming out and taking an active roll in London's debutante season.  Nearly nine years later, Edith is working a boring desk job and hasn't landed a rich husband- or any husband at all.  While visiting the friends in Sussex, Edith, our narrator and their host Isabel Easton, decide to take a public tour of the nearby manor house Broughton Hall.  The group run into one of the members of the family while on the tour and Charles Broughton (heir to the Marquess and one of England's most eligible bachelors) takes a shine to Edith.  Months later, the narrator and Edith are both invited to join the Eastons at Ascot in London.  The group run into Charles again and the Earl manages to convince Edith to join him for tea.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Charles eventually proposes to Edith and being the pragmatic individual that she is, Edith accepts.  But life as an Earl's wife is hardly what she imagined it would be.  First, there's Charles mother, Lady Uckfield (known affectionately by the ridiculous nickname "Googie"). Lady Uckfield probably hates Edith with a venomous passion but seeing as manners and decorum dictate that she act as if she love Edith, never shows her true feelings.  Googie knows that Edith is not a true aristocrat and that is the one failing that Edith can never make up no matter how hard she tries.  Edith is, and always will be, an outsider.  Then there's the fact that Charles, while a good, loyal, man is rather...boring.  And though Edith plays her part and immerses herself in running flower shows, working with local charities and enjoying life in a grand house, she finds herself to be very unhappy.

Almost a year into their marriage, the Broughtons decide to let a production company film a period drama on the estate.  Our narrator secures a role in the production and is there to witness Edith finally come off the rails.  Throwing all caution and common sense to the wind, Edith begins an affair with the film's handsome leading man, leaves Charles and sets up shop with her new lover in London.  Our poor narrator is then forced to become a sort of go-between for Edith and the Broughton family.

Snobs is a novel about the less glamorous side of the English elite and can be practically summed up in the following quote:

"The English, of all classes as it happens, are addicted to exclusivity.  Leave three Englishmen in a room and they will invent a rule that prevents a fourth joining them."

A delightful read for any who enjoy English history and culture.

The Cuckoo's Calling By Robert Galbraith

In THE CUCKOO’S CALLING, author Robert Galbraith (a pseudonym for the famous J.K. Rowling) creates an old-fashioned detective novel, one that, despite being set in 21^st century London, could easily fit in 1930’s Los Angeles.  In  1944,  mystery writer Raymond Chandler defined the American private detective: “Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid…He is the hero… a man of honor…He is a relatively poor man. He is a common man…He is a lonely man…” In this book, private detective Cormoran Strike embodies these characteristics. A former British soldier who saw action in Afghanistan, he is down on his luck. Broke and forced to live in his seedy office, unable to pay his rent or the temporary secretary he is too kind to dismiss, he cannot see a way out of his current troubles. Fortune, in the form of a wealthy client, arrives at his door on the same day as his new secretary, Robin. Strike is asked to investigate the death of a supermodel who fell from the balcony of her third story luxury apartment. The death had been ruled suicide by the London police three months earlier, but the client, the model’s brother, is not satisfied with the finding.  Strike’s investigation leads him across class lines, from nouveau riche musicians, designers and film producers to old money families to immigrants and drug addicts. His ability to talk to all types of people, retain their information, sort through lies and truth and organize it all into a logical progression are the skills Strike uses to solve this mystery.  There are no surprising twists, no gimmicks and no improbable strokes of luck in this book. Strike solves the mystery with straight-forward hard detective work: interviews, deductive reasoning and paying attention to seemingly unimportant details. THE CUCKOO’S CALLING will appeal to the reader who appreciates a well-written, realistic mystery.

Check out The Cuckoo's Calling at the library!

Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle

The Queen’s Gambit is a chess opening in which a pawn is temporarily sacrificed to give the player a strong center presence. In The Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle, the life of Elizabeth Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII, becomes a chess game after her marriage. In order to keep her position and her head, she must plan carefully, stay at least one move ahead of her enemies, and arrange her allies carefully around her. To succeed at this game, she needs the loyalty of her maid-servant, Dot, illiterate and lowly-born, who understands the importance of keeping the Queen’s secrets, even at great danger to herself.

Katherine Parr was thirty, twice-widowed and childless, when her modesty and common sense caught the eye of King Henry VIII. His proposal of marriage could not be refused.  Katherine was forced to put aside self-interest to marry a husband who was by this time elderly, sick, bad-tempered and dangerous. Henry was a man who could suddenly turn on those close to him and order anyone, even his queen, banished, arrested or executed. Katherine endured some close calls, but with the help of servants and friends and her own intuition about the King’s moods, she was able to outwit her enemies and outlive the king. In this book her story is told from two points of view, Katherine’s and Dot’s.  Each was a woman who rose above her station. Katherine, of aristocratic but not royal blood, became Queen of England. Dot, the uneducated daughter of a thatcher, became the Queen’s most trusted retainer. Together they navigated the chess board of the English Court, the gossip, the intrigues, the back-biting, the maneuvering for favor.

After Henry’s death, both Katherine and Dot married for love. Dot created a happy home and family, but Katherine’s fourth husband, Thomas Seymour, proved to be a social-climbing philanderer. Neither of Katherine’s positions, Queen and Dowager Queen, could provide happiness or safety. After careful strategizing in Henry’s Court kept her alive, she died at age thirty-six, as so many sixteenth century women did, in childbirth.

Check out The Queen's Gambit at the library!