Book Review: Unmentionable, by Therese Oneill

Rating: 2 stars of 5

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners, is a hilarious commentary on how women were viewed, treated and expected to behave during the Victorian period. It’s written as a sort of satire and pokes fun at the ridiculousness of the antiquated ideas that were prevalent amongst the source materials the author used.

The book focuses largely on advertisements, books and other published materials from the era. At times, these are laughably absurd and at other times, infuriating. The most amusing samples, perhaps, are some of those written by male physicians of the time, who apparently had no clue what they were talking about when it came to female physiology or psychology. One of the ideas a male doctor put forth in one of the latter chapters had me laughing so hard I was crying as I was trying to read the passage aloud to my husband.

Whilst entertaining, there were a few things I did not like about the book. There are some inaccuracies throughout. If you are looking for a comprehensive, historically accurate read, I would not recommend this book as your best option. Something by Ruth Goodman, perhaps, would be better. Her book, How to Be a Victorian, is good.

The irreverent tone in which the book is written is occasionally off-putting in the beginning but the sarcasm becomes quite grating as the book goes on. Whilst funny at first, it really got old after awhile.

There are some sections that can be quite triggering. I would recommend skipping the chapter on diet altogether if you would find irreverent discussions of weight and weight loss troubling. The way that chapter is presented is appalling, and it isn’t entirely the fault of the source material. The author contributes to it as well.

Overall, it was an amusing, though not altogether enjoyable, read. I wouldn’t not recommend it, but I also would not purchase any copies to give away and I will not be keeping my copy in my library.