A London Child of the 1870s

A London Family #1

by Molly Hughes, M.V. Hughes

Molly Hughes' humorous and gentle account of growing up in London takes its place with such classics as Lark Rise to Candleford and Still Glides the Stream as a classic description of life in Victorian England.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, History, Biography, Victorian, London, British Literature

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Mary Vivian Hughes, usually known as Molly Hughes and also published under M.V. Hughes, was a British educator and author.

The daughter of a London stockbroker, she was born Mary Thomas and passed most of her childhood in Canonbury, under the watchful eyes of four older brothers. Her father, a modestly successful stockbroker, became caught up in a financial scandal and committed suicide in 1879.

She attended the North London Collegiate School and a Cambridge teachers' training college, and was later awarded her BA in London.

As head of the training department at Bedford College from 1892 until 1897, she played an important role in expanding and rationalizing the teacher training curriculum. Molly Thomas married barrister-at-law Arthur Hughes (1857–1918) from Garneddwen in 1897, after an engagement of nearly ten years; they had one daughter and three sons. After her husband's death, she returned to work as an educational inspector. Her first book, About England, was published in 1927. She died in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1956.

Hughes is best known for a series of four lively memoirs, A London Child of the 1870s, A London Girl of the 1880s, A London Home in the 1890s, and A London Family Between the Wars. Hughes's stated purpose in these books is "to show that Victorian children did not have such a dull time as is usually supposed." Her books are a valuable source on women's education and women's work in the late Victorian period; in particular, A London Girl of the 1880s provides an unparalleled portrait of life in a Victorian women's college. Some of Hughes's books are illustrated by her own drawings and her brother Charles's paintings.

Reviews

[JimZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me of the movie Life with Father, which was a movie adapted from a screenplay which was adapted from an autobiography written by Clarence Day whose father was a stockbroker. The setting was New York City and the time was circa 1890s and the autobiography recounts the Day family which had quite a few children. In this book by Molly Hughes the father was on the London Stock Exchange, and the family lived in London, and the book takes place between 1870-1878. Molly Hughes recounts her childhood days with her 4 brothers and her mother and father living in London, and one of their excursions to her mother’s childhood home in Cornwall (that excursion takes up 4 of 14 chapters of the book). The majority of the book was a pleasant read, and when reading it, Molly Hughes evoked or brought to my mind memories of when I was a child. So I thank her for that! Some of the book, for me, was a tad boring, but still and I all I give it a solid 3 stars. Well worth reading. 😊

What is a treat or important is the particular edition of this book—it is a reprint from Persephone Press (2017, first published by Persephone in 2005) and it includes an afterword written by Adam Gopnik who is a writer for The New Yorker magazine. The original afterword is written in 1987 (from an essay in The New Yorker), and then Gopnik has some additional thoughts that he puts down to paper in 2005—both the original essay/afterword and the addendum are well worth reading. I don’t want to give out spoilers, but I learned from him at least one thing in the book that was not “truth”…but then an explanation for why he thought it was justified by Molly Hughes. I do not know if I agree with him. But by that I mean I truly do not know—he may be right. For those who are NOT going to read this book what I am alluding to can be found in the review below that is marked with the asterisk (I think it is more interesting to read the book first and then read the Gopnik essay after that).

This book is the first of a trilogy by Molly Hughes, the second and third books being her reminisces of her life from 1880-1900 (A London Girl of the 1880s [1936]; A London Home in the 1890s [1937]). This first book of the trilogy was the most popular. She also wrote another memoir, A London Family Between the Wars (1940, Oxford University Press), recalling her life when she was a widow, with very little money and three sons to educate.

She wrote the first book of the trilogy when she was well past her childhood…when she was 68 years old.

Notes:
* Adapted from the afterword by Adam Gopnik from the Guardian (UK), November 11, 2005: https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
Interesting part of Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Vi...) about her: Her books are a valuable source on women's education and women's work in the late Victorian period; in particular, A London Girl of the 1880s provides an unparalleled portrait of life in a Victorian women's college. The Encyclopedia of British Women's Writing, 1900-1950 notes "She has received no attention from critics."

Reviews (all 3 are from blog sites and all are very good in my opinion)
• this writer also warns about not reading the afterword if one wants to read this book…read the afterword truly after reading the memoir!: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
• http://booksforyears.blogspot.com/201...
• https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/...

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karen Glass mentioned she was enjoying this and so I grabbed it. It remind me a little of Cider with Rosie only I think I liked this even better. It is a memoir of the 1870’s. What a jolly, happy family. The warmth and love shine through every page.

One of the most surprising things I read was that there were no public restaurants in London at that time.

Warning: towards the end the “N” word is used. It was incredibly uncomfortable to read but on the other hand, I think it is historically important for it to remain for two reasons. One, it helps us see the attitude of the times. Two, of we whitewash it then we erase the oppression felt by the oppressed peoples. We need to understand both.

#20for2020reads Memoir #theliterarylifepodcast

[Iza Brekilien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Books and livres

I discovered this memoir through a readalong on Goodreads. I'd never heard about the author or the book, but I thought it would be interesting to see that period through the eyes of a "nobody" who experienced it first rate.

And I was surprised because, prejudiced as I was, I thought it would be a London childhood that would look like the ones in the paintings : stiff, severe, surrounded by serious adults and dark furniture. It wasn't ! The only thing that looked Victorian to me (except the high church/low church rivalry, the no traveling on sundays, Jane Eyre not being a proper book for children, etc) was this quote : "My father's slogan was that boys should go everywhere and know everything, and that a girl should stay at home and know nothing." - she had four brothers. The author doesn't mention precise ages or years, her memoir is built on themes : school, holidays in Cornwall, how the day went, the (numerous) pranks they would play on their own family or their neighbours, even perfect strangers !

The father was often away at work, but their mother was very easy-going, except when it came to religion. "No master seemed to have taught Barnholt anything, and all he brought home was detention-cards. "Never mind", mother used to say, "mark my words, he will be the first to earn his own living." And she was right."

The children were home schooled for a long time, they seemed to be doing fairly well. They read a lot, loved books, even the "good books for children" : "death itself usually befell the leading characters. Indeed, the mortality among children was so great that Mina and I wondered how any of them remained alive to grow up."

Another quote about books : "Charles broke our rule of never discussing a book's plot with one still reading it, when he saw me one day deep in "A journey to the interior of the Earth." "Have you come to where they all die ?" said he. I read on, expecting the worst on every page, until the end showed them all alive and well. I went to Charles in no little heat. "Well," said he, "I never said they all died, I only asked if you had come to it. And if you weren't a little silly you would know that they couldn't have all died, or who was left to tell the story ?".

In undertones, we hear mentioned the alcoholism of women (if I had to stay home, spend my time gossiping with neighbours, embroidering and think of nothing but houses, menus and children, I would drink too !) and marital violence (aunt Lizzie). But honestly, it was a very happy childhood, with strong bonds between children and parents, lots of books and fun, except at the end. I read it with a smile on my face and would love to read the other two memoirs published by the author, "A London girl of the 1880s" and "A London home in the 1890s". Molly Hughes was born in 1866 and died in 1956, imagine all the changes that came through her life ! When I tell my children about my youth in the 20th century, I almost feel like we had a pet dinosaur, so...

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and moving account of growing up in London, (with holidays in Cornwall). Molly seems to have had a happy childhood, brought up in a loving family, the only girl with four brothers, this did have its compensations, "The boys had the advantage of me in going about, but I had the advantage of them in not being sent to school. Until my eleventh year I was saved from the stupefying influence of such a place.". This is certainly not a story of distant parents and a hard childhood, the children are lively the parents have a much more 'hands on' approach than I expected.

The forward which other reviewers have complained about is now an afterward, but if anyone is planning on reading on in the series it does contain spoilers for the later books.

Hopefully the other books in the trilogy won't be too difficult to track down.

[Girl with her Head in a Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally published here: http://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/2...

I stumbled across this in the Woodstock Book Shop – a beautiful place which has sent me into a mania of bookish acquisition on both occasions that I have visited. It’s probably good that it’s a solid half hour drive away. Strangely though, when I started reading, there were snippets that I recognised, and I realised that this book, just like Gwen Raverat’s Period Piece, was quoted extensively in Judith Flanders’ spectacular The Victorian House, one of my all-time favourite pieces of non-fiction. Thus, encountering Molly was like running into an old acquaintance – a wonderful rediscovery and a delight to know better. And it turns out that this is but the first in a trilogy – it seems I have found a book to treasure. The title may rather give away the subject matter of this memoir, but what is a surprise is quite how vividly the author’s voice comes across. I felt as if I heard her as clearly as if she were speaking on the radio – she did not seem like a being from another time, another century, Molly Hughes feels more like a woman sitting down in an armchair for a natter. Her recollections are crisp and clear, full of detail and yet unstained by nostalgia. A London Child of the 1870s is a glorious historical artefact, a summoning forth of the Victorian childhood experience free of the general nauseating Victorian tendency to sentimentalise childhood – Molly and her brothers are closer kin to the young people of Edith Nesbit’s adventures, but more than anything, they are simply themselves and it seemed impossible that they really lived quite so long ago.

Molly Hughes was the youngest of five children and the only girl – meaning that, as she herself observes, unlike so many, she was never ‘a female disappointment’ to her parents. Yet still, it’s obvious that as a girl, Molly was expected to know her place and from early on was expected to wait on her brothers; Tom, Charles, Dym and Barnholt. It is clear from the beginning that Mrs Hughes has little in the way of a feminist agenda, indeed she is grateful to her parents for the early lesson in helping others. She describes all of the fine outings that her father took her brothers on, noting almost as an aside that ‘of course’ she was not allowed to go. Not to the theatre, not for a country walk – her father’s maxim was that ‘a boy should see the world and know everything while a girl should stay at home and know nothing’. The twenty-first century woman in me baulks at such an opinion but Molly Hughes barely bats an eyelid and it is apparent that she adored her father and he her. Indeed, there is a cosiness to Molly’s afternoons in with her mother and it hardly even feels as if she is missing out.

The striking aspect of this differing treatment comes in the attitudes towards punishment. Molly recalls two separate incidences when each of her parents had cause to be strict with her; on one occasion, Molly told her mother that the cook had refused to give her drink, to which her mother calmly ordered Molly to write in her diary ‘I told a lie today’. Sixty years later, the punishment was still deemed harsh. In the other anecdote, Molly cried in order to get her brother into trouble, because she wanted the book he was reading and her father took her upstairs and whipped her because, he explained, it was as bad for a girl to try to get what she wanted by crying as it was for a boy to do the same by hitting. While I really disagree with corporal punishment and was inclined to disapprove of Molly’s Father’s misogynism, upon reflection, I agreed with his sentiment. Although it’s true that I am a bit of a sniveller myself, I have never done so for effect and I know myself what kind of a view of it my own Dad would take if I were to try it.

While the boys head off to school, to varying degrees of academic success, Molly is home-schooled by her mother but again, I was really surprised and impressed by the breadth of her curriculum. With a mother fluent in French and with a high level of Latin, Molly’s education is certainly at a higher level than mine was at a similar age – the only drawback is her mother’s aversion to arithmetic which means that Molly never learns subtraction. There is a gentle self-mockery to a great deal of her recollections, it gives them an incredibly warm and personal feel – even when she is poking fun at her brothers, her affection for them all is what comes through first and foremost. However, there is also the flavour of regret overlying her memories – like the spectre at the feast, one early on gets the suspicion that tough times lie ahead for the family and that Hughes is recalling a simpler time, and indeed with the final pages, this proves correct.

I was reminded of Mariana in certain aspects, with the extended accounts of childhood summer holidays in Cornwall – there is something about school summer holidays that take on something of a legendary status when one is beyond them. Yet, Molly is easily old enough to be grandmother to Mariana – Hughes frequently makes reference to how times have moved on, how little traffic there was, how long it took to travel anywhere by train – in short how the world has revolutionised within her lifetime. Here she reminded me of a very dear family friend Edrey, a woman born into a British Empire family in the 1920s, a woman who also shared that same keen sense of wonder at how the world had changed around her. I wish she was still here so I could talk to her about this book.

The preface to A London Child describes it as an account of Victorian England as seen by the Micawbers and indeed, it is clear that the Thomas family are not wealthy, with Hughes’ father gravely telling her mother that they will weather whatever storms come together but there is none of the disdain or angry caricature that Dickens normally uses to portray genteel poverty. They are of the crumbling middle-classes, some years they have servants, in leaner years they do not. Rather than the chaotic Dickensian families with an uncountable number of children, the Thomas family are rather more in the Streatfeild model, with family theatricals and collaboration between the children to make the most of what they have. It feels almost like time travel, to hear so clearly from someone from so long ago. Although I am attempting to forswear further Persephone purchases, this may have to fall by the wayside should they prove the only avenue by which to get my hands on the rest of Molly Hughes’ memoir trilogy.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th book I’ve ordered from the Persephone Book Shop in London and like the other three it’s well worth the price. That’s because these books are always as beautiful to look at, with their soft grey covers and colorful endpapers chosen to match the date and mood of the book, as they are to read. Persephone Press prints works primarily by women whose books are hard to find elsewhere and this one is a good example. It’s a memoir written by the youngest child of a middle class, literary-minded Victorian family whose idyllic London childhood is described in lively and loving detail. One of the joys of reading a book like this one is the sense of stepping back in time in order to inhabit a very different way of life for a little while. In this case we get to take as much delight as Molly Hughes did in the life she shared with her five mischievous but loving brothers whose parents were as warm and indulgent as any child could possibly want. While much of the book is set in London, my favorite scenes took place when the family journeyed each summer to Cornwall to visit Molly’s grandparents, uncles, aunts and assorted other relatives who lived on a large estate near the sea. Here, Molly and her cousins were able to spend entire days roaming through the large and rambling house and its outbuildings, gardens and orchards, or better yet, race to the top of the cliffs and then scramble down to the seacoast for picnics along the sandy shore with the waves crashing against the rocks. It seems like the ideal kind of childhood I would have chosen for myself had I been able to do the choosing. But like everything that sounds too good to be true, this book is no exception. The reader is left with the feeling that much has been left unsaid, and indeed that’s the case. The final chapter of the book describes the last Christmas the family was able to share together and the book ends abruptly with Molly telling us in the middle of the last paragraph that “one evening my father did not return.” It’s an unsettling ending to a book about a life that just might not have been as happy and carefree as the author would have us believe.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely memoir! Fun and funny and so many delightful details about 1870s Cornwall and London. It was a little like reading about E. Nesbit’s Bastable family. I do so love reading about the shenanigans of a big family.

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this sweet book, readers are treated to a glimpse of real, day-to-day life in England during the mid-late Victorian era. The author was the youngest child in her family, the only girl with four older brothers, and it's comforting to see that sibling behavior isn't much different then from what it is now. There are hours spent squabbling, playing make-believe, and being forced by your parents to do things that you'd rather not have to do. At its core, life isn't really much different 140 years ago.

Molly's mother, who had come from a wealthy and educated family in Cornwall, encouraged her daughter to be curious and adventurous in her learning and experiences. However, Molly was not segregated from the sentiments of her time. For example, she was forbidden from attending theater or live entertainment as her brothers freely could. She was educated in the Victorian style, meaning not much formal education - it wasn't until she was over 10 years old that she attended a traditional school. Her brothers were in private schools from a very young age, and many of them attended university and all of them went on to independent careers.

Molly was reared to be what was expected of her - a wife, mother, and not much more. Although this was the spirit and presumption of the time, it wasn't as though the author automatically internalized and accepted it. In fact, there are so many examples of situations where, in her young life, Molly is exasperated and frustrated by the fact that there are so many things she wants to do, or places she wants to go, but cannot because she is a female. It gives a modern reader pause to reflect on how far society has come with regard to gender equality, but also how far it has yet to go.

Another interesting point of reflection is on the technological advances that society has experienced. Transportation, for example, was a much different experience. Buses were pulled by horses or other such animals. The streets were mostly dirt and mud, not the asphalt-topped smooth experiences we know today. Trains were much slower and less precise with their timetables, and journeys were far more arduous. It makes one appreciate modern travel, for its convenience, relative comfort, and cleanliness.

The daily activities of housekeeping, even with household servants, were also much more tedious and physically demanding than they are now. The effort to cook and serve a meal in the 1870's is much greater than what we know in our modern society. The maintaining and cleaning of clothing and household linens was an arduous ordeal. No automatic washing machines or electric clothes irons to be found. The relative ease and quickness to obtain a load of clean laundry nowadays is something many of us take for granted. After reading A LONDON CHILD, that is no longer the case.

One of the greatest takeaways from this book was the general freedom that children had in London, which was a far less populated city in the 1870's than it is now. Running around to nearby parks and Gardens was not uncommon, and parents were not constantly chaperoning their children. If playing with siblings or friends resulted in the breaking of a window, nobody was too upset. But, it is important that the reader remember that Molly Hughes wrote this long after her childhood had passed. Although she reportedly kept journals throughout her life, I suspect that she might have been wearing some rose-colored glasses when she wrote these experiences down. As we all would be inclined to do.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightfully vivid memoir of day to day family life and adventures in Victorian London, from toffee making with the "worst butter", long Sunday trips through a deserted city to St Paul's for services, the day long train trip for vacations in Cornwall, going riding on the top of a bus with her brothers, and holiday celebrations among many others.

"The evening festivities began with the ceremony of punch-making. This was always my father's special job, and he spread himself over it royally. Qualities of loaf sugar and lemons were assembled, and a very large glass jug. A kettle of water was on the fire. The lemon-juice and sugar were stirred together at the bottom of the jug, then a tumberful each of rum and brandy were added. Carefully my father then filled the jug with boiling water. Carefully, because once the boiling water smashed the jug, and everything splashed over the dining-room table. He laughed and called for all the ingredients over again. "We've lost the punch," said he, " we needn't also lose a bit of our lives by crying over it."

The warmly appreciative introduction by Adam Gopnik is better read as an afterword since it contains some "spoilers".

First read: May 21 to June 11 2011
Enjoyed as much for Persephone book group January 2012

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this writer's voice. She tells her story simply but with real wit. She's the youngest and only girl in a rambunctious Victorian family that lives to read.

Eventually, later, she faces real adversity, but in this story she's recounting a happy childhood. On Sunday morning, on a long walk to St. Paul's for church service, the family plays 'wayside cribbage': "man carrying baby, 5 points; three in a hansom, 5; perambulator, 1; cat in window, 15; ladder, 1; man with a mourning hatband, 5; any one we knew to speak to (very rare), 31, game."

Another excellent woman writer, brought back into publication by Persephone Books. Adam Gopnik wrote the introduction to this edition.

[Karyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lively and jolly romp with a fun-loving family of Victorian England. It's very Little Women-ish, with a bit of the Banks family of Mary Poppins mixed in, in that it portrays a close-knit family that loves to have a good time.

For example:

It was an uncertain afternoon, neither rain nor shine, when some one started the idea of a war between boys and girls. It went with a swing. We girls agreed to remain in our big long bedroom, with windows on two sides, and pretend to be besieged in Lucknow. The boys were to be natives and make the attack. We sat tight and handed round apples as our last rations. Soon there was a thundering on the bolted door. At this we laughed, for it was only to frighten us. Next thing we knew Edgar's head was upside down at one of the windows. He knew the room well and was hanging over. While we were making it hot for him with hair-brushes, Charles and Barnholt were at another window actually squeezing in. Our poor aims with pieces of soap and nail-brushes had no effect, and soon the battle was raging fiercely through the streets of Lucknow, round and under the beds, with pillows, bolsters, and knotted towels as weapons. When the place was a shambles, and sahibs and natives lying dead from laughter or exhaustion, [aunt] Tony appeared to say what was all the noise and tea was ready.

It's scenes like these that give a glimpse of an idyllic childhood, interspersed with scenes of Victorian London. The thick, heavy fogs are occasionally mentioned, and descriptions of the town as being far less bustling than it is at the time of publication are frequent. The book makes one wish one had a childhood like this, and to travel back in time to meet Molly and her four older brothers.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earlier this month, I read Period Piece by Gwen Raverat, a lovely memoir of a Victorian, Cambridge childhood that I found endlessly charming and beautifully told. So with A London Child therefore I was very much back in familiar territory, which Liz bought me for Christmas, and is on the Seven Ages of Women list.

Molly Hughes was born Mary Thomas in 1866 and she tells us that her childhood memories begin in 1870 and end in 1879 when the family underwent a seismic change. A London Child of the 1870’s is in fact the first of a quartet of memoirs by Molly Hughes: A London Girl of the 1880s, A London Home in the 1890s, and A London Family Between the Wars. I can’t help but wonder whether Persephone books will ever re-issue the rest of Molly Hughes story.


Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...

[Etta Mcquade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molly Hughes writes of her young years growing up in Victorian London with four brothers older than herself and intelluctual, devoted, and reasonable parents. This gentle, humorous memoir tells of their games, the tricks the children played, their books, household goings-on, and just everyday living. Especially captivating was their annual trip to Cornwall by train to stay with their relatives at the family homestead, and their Aunt Tony, whose "peculiar charm consisted in her greater delight in the doings of others than in her own." (p. 98) The book ends on a sad note, however, with the sudden death of her father. Published in 1934, the book is compared to Flora Thompson's "Lark Rise to Candleford, whereas Flora Thompson describes the rural, Molly Hughes covers the urban life.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming memoir. Molly was the youngest of five children and the only girl, growing up in north London with her parents, brothers and two servants. Her parents seem quite unusual, although it’s hard to be sure – much more ‘modern’ than one would think from reading about the families in Victorian novels. As a girl, there was a lot that Molly wasn’t allowed to do, but her brothers sneaked her out to take her on the top of a horse-drawn omnibus, sitting up with the driver, and they had a lot of fun, especially on the annual visits to her mother's large family on a farm in Cornwall. I'm now looking for the sequel.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this Persephone book a enjoyable and sometimes poignant read, recounting Molly Hughes's memories of her Victorian childhood in London. She vividly describes what it was like being the only girl with four older brothers, all allowed far more freedom than her, while she stayed at home with her mother and largely lived through their accounts of what they had been doing.

"My father's slogan was that boys should go everywhere and know everything, and that a girl should stay at home and know nothing," she writes.

Molly's world broadened a little when she finally went to school outside the home at 11, and she also tells of hurried shopping trips - with no public conveniences for females, it wasn't possible to go out for more than a few hours.

Molly's family thought pious Victorian children's books were hilarious and often made up more satisfying, and less prim, endings to the stories. Her description of their Christmas was also interesting - they exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve before going to bed, and had no stockings or trees, with a highlight of the day itself being the arrival of cards delivered by the postman.

As well as the descriptions of London, there is a long section about her family's summers with relations in Cornwall, and the greater freedom they enjoyed there.

The family's finances were uneven, as her father was a "stock jobber" who was sometimes in funds and sometimes out of them. An afterword by Adam Gopnik, best read after the main book, sheds more light on some aspects of Molly's story, and also tells how important the book was to him and his wife when they first moved to New York. I would like to read more by both Hughes and Gopnik.

[rr]

I don't usually choose non-fiction for leisure reading, and I've not read many memoirs in general--but I'm glad I moved off my beaten paths when picking this book. Molly Hughes' childhood memoir is a pleasure in and of itself plus a treasure-trove of insights into "ordinary life" in Victorian London.

I read the edition published by Persephone Books (a great press!), and it has a preface by Adam Gopnik. Persephone publishes interesting titles and makes sure that its books are a physical pleasure to hold, look at, and read. If you happen to get their edition of this book, don't read the preface first! I'm not sure I like Gopnik's preface, but I caution against reading it first because it contains a HUGE spoiler. Better to wait to read it until you've gone on the journey that Hughes designed for her readers. Persephone should have made the preface an afterword instead.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il primo di una serie di tre memoir, A London Child of the 1870's racconta per l'appunto l'infanzia vittoriana di Molly Hughes. La famiglia di Molly era una famiglia qualsiasi, non povera, non ricca, non famosa o amica di persone famose. L'intenzione dell'autrice è quella di sfatare il mito secondo il quale in epoca vittoriana i bambini non riuscivano a godersi l'infanzia. La vita qualsiasi di questa numerosa famiglia particolarmente amante della lettura (Molly era la figlia più giovane e aveva quattro fratelli) è descritta in modo gioioso e idilliaco, tanto che è difficile conciliare la voce che sentiamo durante tutto il libro con il finale, una chiusura secca e dolorosa.

robertabookshelf.blogspot.it/2013/09/...

[Voracious · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this, and was not expecting to. I put it on my to-read list hoping it would give me some insight into the London my grandparents grew up in, but realised they were born around 1890 rather than 1870. (We're a tribe of slow breeders).

But I dutifully started this, expecting to be educated, and was delighted to be charmed instead. The library copy contained both other books in the trilogy, so I read those too, and enjoyed them very much.

A few startling gender issues aside, Molly's attitudes are pretty modern and her character is splendid.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I could have given it 3.5 stars, but I didn't quite think it merited 4. It's not a long book, but I liked what I read. I wanted to read more really.

I was most particularly moved by the abrupt way she describes the death of her father at the end of the book. Knowing that there was more to the story than she let on really made me sympathize with the girl who went through that 135 years ago.

Persephone books REALLY needs to republish the other 2 books in the series!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful peek into an interesting family. Hughes has a delightful voice. I fell in love with her brothers and especially her Aunt Tony in Cornwall. Grateful for the other thoughtful reviews.

(I'm a huge fan of Persephone Books now, too. Getting this book in the mail made me giddy - it's so beautiful!)

[Susann · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt 3 stars for the first half of the book, but then it gradually grew to 4. Nice quotidian details of Victorian life. I particularly liked the Cornwall scenes. In just a few scenes, Hughes sounds like a precursor to Betty MacDonald.

[Sarah Dunsbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love books by ordinary people recalling their childhood.
This is very interesting, it sure if would like this family or not..
Lots of detail but not as much as hoped...
One thing that really annoyed was " the servants" refered to like this but no names or description at all!

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Persephone book and it was a hoot!

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested to know about the ordinary life of a middle-class English family in Victorian times then, this is a good one. I found it in a Thrift store in Ottawa. It was a Persephone Books London. Edition.

In one chapter, she discusses how in the 1870s, they used to celebrate st. Valentine's day on 14 Feb, giving secret cards to their crushes /loves and how by 1920s the tradition had wholly disappeared.

In another chapter, while traveling to Cornwall, they stopped at Swindon and had cheap food in the refreshment rooms (10-minute stop). She talks about the silver teapot model train, a reference to the one used to serve I K Brunel, who said the coffee tasted more like burnt corn.

The end is abrupt when her father dies. She says it was an accident but in reality, much like many Dickens characters, he committed suicide.

There are a few other volumes; I will look for them! Pleasant reading, all in all.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c1934: I had been looking forward to this book especially as I love all things London. And it was a GR recommendation and it was a Persephone. I really really wish that I had not read the preface which, for me, absolutely ruined the book. Having been told at the very beginning that the author had twisted a few details - the rest of the book fell flat. I ended up scanning the book more than reading it as it deserved to be - but gained the impression that, without the ruinous introduction by Mr Gopnik, I would have enjoyed it. Why the publishers decided on this tactic is totally beyond me. Boooooooooo.“Again and again I turned to something entitled The Dark Journey, only to find that it was an account of one’s digestion. You may wonder why I did this more than once, but I always hoped that I had been mistaken, and that such a splendid title must mean a good story. No, there was still that forbidding picture of one’s insides cut through the middle”

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful account of the author's childhood, growing up in a middle class London home with her parents, four elder brothers and a number of servants. Holidays are spent with her mother's family in Cornwall, and every day brings opportunities for simple fun and adventures.

I really enjoyed this wonderful book. The children make loving and cheerful companions for each other, their toys and games are incredibly simple by today's standards but provide hours of entertainment, and they are happy to use their imagination to think up games, put on plays or just make up stories.

It could seem that this is a Rose tinted piece of nostalgia, but to me it was more the case that Molly Hughes felt she was lucky to have kind and relatively easygoing parents, enjoyed being the only girl and the youngest child, and looked back on her childhood as a golden time of happiness. I really loved looking back with her, and reading this little gem of a book.

[Jenna Gareis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five things about A London Child of the 1870s by MV Hughes 📚📚📚📚📚

1. Whew! I’m glad I have the second and third books on hand because that last page was a doozy!
2. This book brings the past to life. The descriptions of childhood in Victorian London are sparkling and quivering with life.
3. The girl’s life is so intertwined with that of her brothers’ despite the many and vast limitations put upon her because she is a girl. Her brothers, always looking for a well meaning lark both bring the world to her and make in-roads for her to occasionally venture into it.
4. The love this family has for each other is beautiful and endearing.
5. SPOILER:



The father’s death will surely cast a shadow over the next book. This book was so much in the sun.

[Quiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that will make you smile until the bitter end.

[Clare Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and evocative without being sentimental.

[Avril · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be warned, this is a delightful book about a very happy childhood but it ends on a shocking note.