Carrie's review
The Dress Lodger (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Sheri Holman
Carrie's review
The Dress Lodger (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Sheri Holman
Carrie's review
rating:
This book provides a fascinating look at the living conditions of the poor of 19th-century England. Author Sheri Holman crafts vivid descriptions of the filth and clautrophobia that the poor endured and leaves one wondering how any of them survived past infancy.
The field of medicine and how it was developing in the 19th century also plays a large part in "The Dress Lodger." The detailed depictions of autopsies and grave robberies make one shudder. Between this and the appalling conditions of the poor, I would not recommend this book to the squeamish.
In "The Dress Lodger," Holman combines a talent for sharp storytelling with a great deal of research. One feels as if one has stepped into the poorest section of 19th-century Sunderland both physically and emotionally.
The field of medicine and how it was developing in the 19th century also plays a large part in "The Dress Lodger." The detailed depictions of autopsies and grave robberies make one shudder. Between this and the appalling conditions of the poor, I would not recommend this book to the squeamish.
In "The Dress Lodger," Holman combines a talent for sharp storytelling with a great deal of research. One feels as if one has stepped into the poorest section of 19th-century Sunderland both physically and emotionally.
