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

Unmentionable:  The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners is a deep-dive in to all things ladylike.  From the type and care of your crotchless panties, (not nearly as fun as it sounds) to how not to look like a slob at the dinner table, this book covers it all.  

It’s a snarky and intelligent take on how women’s lives were strictly controlled by society’s rules and expectations for behavior and appearance.  

The cover for this book is amazing.  With a shocking pink spine and the saucy corset photo on the front, it’s hard to pass up.  I did have to answer a few questions from The Kid…

The book is written as though The Reader has been transported back in time to Victorian London.  Luckily, we are transported back with wealth and status to ensure we don’t have to handle our own chamber pots or deal with the toxic and harsh chemicals used to launder our clothes.   Our Guide takes on a tour of all things lady: from our clothing, bathing, how to move in society and how to move our bowels. What fork to use, because there are twenty, and how to keep a husband happy.  Or at least, how to keep a husband from putting us in an asylum.

It’s both fascinating and terrifying:  toxic makeup, patent medicine, streets lined in dung.  How did we survive? Especially with our crazy wombs that are the root cause of all illnesses.  Just ask the men.

I loved this!

Unmentionable:  The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill is available now from Little, Brown and Company.  

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here: