The Model Wife: Nineteenth-Century Style

by Rona Randall

This is an account of the role of the married woman in the last century, describing everything the "model" wife was expected to know. The book contains information drawn largely from 19th-century sources about the myths and mores of a period when conformity and keeping up appearances were widely considered of prime importance. The author also wrote "Dragonmede", "Watchman's Stone", "The Mating Dance", "Curtain Call" and "The Model Wife, Nineteenth-Century Style".

Genres: History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Rona Green Shambrook
aka Rona Randall, Rona Shambrook, Virginia Standage

Rona Green was born on 16 June 1911 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK. Her education includes: Pitmans College in London, a Diploma in English Literature at Royal Society of Art, Birkenhead School of Art Literary. She married Frederick Walter Shambrook, and had a son.

A former actress, before writing, she worked also as journalist and sub-director of publishing company Amalgamated Press, and as assistant editor of George Newnes Ltd. Published since 1942, she started publishing mainly contemporary doctor nurse romances, before writing also gothic romances, and when the market for gothic novels softened, she wrote historical mystery romances. In 1970, Broken Tapestry, her contemporary novel about a broken family, won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. In 1989, she wrote her The Model Wife: Nineteenth Century Style, a book about social constumbres, including clothing. In 1992, she wrote Writing Popular Fiction, a complete guide for writers.

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light and well-illustrated social history of mainly upper and middle class British women in the Victorian era which covers topics like caring for clothes, high society, and travel and transport. It was written by a romance writer and I think written mainly for romance fans. It will frustrate people who like citations because apart from long stretches of information taken from single, named sources there are plenty of claims in this book which are not sourced at all. There are also stretches that needed more editing (the long chapter on nineteenth century fashion is basically a very detailed and quite tedious list). I didn't mind any of that, though, because it was such a fun read, and unexpectedly willing to touch on the darker side of married life too (including prostitution and domestic abuse). Not the best social history of the Victorian era, but a good intro.

[Marini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed account of actual life in Victorian England. Very interesting read, without being too difficult or boring