Much to Be Done: Private Life in Ontario From Victorian Diaries

by Frances Hoffman, Ryan Taylor

Victorian Ontario included people from all walks of life from homeless beggars to wealthy gentry. In Much To Be Done we glimpse how life was lived in 19th-century Ontario, not only in the grand mansions, but also in the farm houses and streets where our ancestors lived. This publication could be your great-grandmother's story, following the cycle of life from courtship to childbirth to celebration and death. Diaries, with some contributions from letters, newspapers and reminiscences, provide a fresh and contemporary viewpoint. Much To Be Done promotes a historical understanding which links people of today with the Ontario of the past.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2000

Reviews

[Lisa]

I kept this on my nightstand for several months. It’s a perfect read for just before bed. A collection of diary entries from people in all circumstances, mostly women reflecting on their lives, work, culture, holidays, children, aspirations, etc. As a diarist, I usually focus my reading on published complete diaries. But collections like this are also very interesting and their thoughts on their lives spark my own. Like many of these authors/diarists, I suspect I tend to focus on the minutia of life. I try to remind myself to occasionally write about “the big picture,” to situate my life I the context of larger events. But I also regularly try to capture an entire day from dawn till dusk…

[Jocelyn]

Fascinating!! Everyone, young and old should be reading this today.

[Colleen Andrews]

Fascinating book. Only slight quibble: seemed more about affluent settlers than regular working-class people, but perhaps that was unavoidable. Probably the regular working-class were not keeping journals.