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alexisrt's review against another edition
4.0
The Short Life and Long Times Of Mrs. Beeton by Kathryn Hughes (2006)
bumsonseats's review against another edition
3.0
I have the Book of Household Management on my kindle but have only ever dipped in briefly. The background of this book will make it far more interesting.
Mrs Beeton and the whole franchise give some fascinating background to the Victorian age, and it's a very readable book, even if you're not into cooking or the publishing industry.
Mrs Beeton and the whole franchise give some fascinating background to the Victorian age, and it's a very readable book, even if you're not into cooking or the publishing industry.
tessisreading2's review against another edition
3.0
As other readers have mentioned, very very long and with a tendency to wander off on long digressions, some of which - e.g. the detailed discussions of Isabella's family - I found interesting, and others - e.g. the overview of fictionalized depictions of the Beetons throughout the twentieth century - less so. Isabella Beeton's life was so short that she herself had little to do with the book's wild success and development, but I felt like the book kind of ran out of steam when she died; the history of the Beeton publishing enterprises was much less interesting, and Hughes (like many previous biographers, it seems) didn't particularly like Sam Beeton. One horrifying fact I did learn from this particular book, though, is that it seems like mid-Victorians who didn't have syphilis were the exception to the rule. Ugh, history!
sammilittlejohns's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was an incredibly well researched piece, and very nicely written, that's why I've given this book 3 stars. However it sometimes read as a history of Victorian publications rather than a biography of Mrs Beeton. I know the author had to combat a lack of material when it came to this, however it just segued off into random facts about newspapers and Samuel Beeton that I thought could have been either removed completely or cut down massively.
Love Kathryn Hughes work, especially Victorians Undone, and I do appreciate the topic of the book and that you can write something about Isabella Beeton even if you know very little about her. I wish she had incorporated the Interludes more in the actual writing itself, as those few pages between each chapter was more interesting and relevant to Mrs Beeton and the context of her time period rather than random facts about how well different papers sold.
I think in general this was just a very difficult topic to write anything about, and in reality if you just wanted to focus solely on Isabella's life, you may have a book 150 pages long. That being said, I'd much rather have read 150 interesting pages than the 400, although well written, sometimes boring facts that fluffed out this biography.
Love Kathryn Hughes work, especially Victorians Undone, and I do appreciate the topic of the book and that you can write something about Isabella Beeton even if you know very little about her. I wish she had incorporated the Interludes more in the actual writing itself, as those few pages between each chapter was more interesting and relevant to Mrs Beeton and the context of her time period rather than random facts about how well different papers sold.
I think in general this was just a very difficult topic to write anything about, and in reality if you just wanted to focus solely on Isabella's life, you may have a book 150 pages long. That being said, I'd much rather have read 150 interesting pages than the 400, although well written, sometimes boring facts that fluffed out this biography.
jerihurd's review against another edition
3.0
Mrs Beeton: Unrepentant plagiarist. A bit disappointing to discover the sine qua non of Victorian domesticity was a complete fraud, but an interesting history nonetheless. More of a 3.5. It was occasionally bogged down my too much background/context, or it would have been a 4
daisyq's review against another edition
3.0
I was inspired to read this after watching a Sophie Dahl TV show about Mrs Beeton, which was fascinating and used this book as a source. It was interesting enough that I thought I'd like to know more.
Turns out, I was wrong. The most interesting parts of the book for me (about Isabella's early life and marriage) were adequately covered by the TV show, which also mixed in some visits to key places and tested a few of the recipes and remedies. I did not really care enough to require the level of detail presented here about, for example, the lives of the parents and grandparents of both Isabella and her husband, or the lengthy descriptions of exactly which parts of [b:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|832761|Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|Isabella Beeton|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387663439s/832761.jpg|818394] were borrowed (cited or uncited) from which other books.
Turns out, I was wrong. The most interesting parts of the book for me (about Isabella's early life and marriage) were adequately covered by the TV show, which also mixed in some visits to key places and tested a few of the recipes and remedies. I did not really care enough to require the level of detail presented here about, for example, the lives of the parents and grandparents of both Isabella and her husband, or the lengthy descriptions of exactly which parts of [b:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|832761|Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|Isabella Beeton|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387663439s/832761.jpg|818394] were borrowed (cited or uncited) from which other books.
christinel's review against another edition
3.0
I definitely picked up this book for its cover at a used book sale, with it's faux-antique cloth texture and worn out gilt. I am always strangely fascinated by what it felt like to live in the past - not just the ideas and joys and challenges, but what everyday stuff looked like and felt like and tasted like. So the biography of the woman who was sort of the Martha Stewart of the Victorian age is definitely in my wheelhouse. What the author is most interested in is all the retrospective glosses that people have put on Mrs. Beeton's image, as at different times people made her out to be a domestic goddess, a symbol of an idyllic agrarian past, a harlot, a plagiarising hack and a ruthless businesswoman.
caterinaanna's review
4.0
Years ago I was given a facsimile edition of the original BHM as a birthday present by a chap who then nicked it to write a musical piece for the Stonesfield Ladies' Choral Society - not one of the adaptations that gets a mention in the final chapter. I'm not sure if I have the manuscript, but I certainly have a copy buried in a box somewhere.
Anyway, to the book: easy to read - in the manner of all good biographies it wears its erudition lightly. Only reason it took me so long was because it's time fell around a double department inspection at school so lots of extra work. Given that the theory about why Mrs B died so young and her husband did the things he did thereafter is well-supported by the evidence and placed in the context of the time, as the author takes pains to do, methinks it is sad rather than scandalous. What is most revealing is the joint nature of Isabella and Sam's ventures and many bored readers of their publications would no doubt have envied her her freedom.
Anyway, to the book: easy to read - in the manner of all good biographies it wears its erudition lightly. Only reason it took me so long was because it's time fell around a double department inspection at school so lots of extra work. Given that the theory about why Mrs B died so young and her husband did the things he did thereafter is well-supported by the evidence and placed in the context of the time, as the author takes pains to do, methinks it is sad rather than scandalous. What is most revealing is the joint nature of Isabella and Sam's ventures and many bored readers of their publications would no doubt have envied her her freedom.
cathygeagan's review
3.0
Absolutely fascinating in places, although I found myself dipping in and out rather than reading in one sitting.
dee2799d's review
3.0
Never read The Book of Household Management, although I might have seen it mentioned in books, so I didn't have the same expectation British people have when seeing the name Mrs Beeton. I picked this up mostly to read up on the Victorian era middle class and on that it doesn't necessarily disappoint. Kathryn Hughes focuses not only on Isabella Beeton and her husband Sam, but also their families. Could be a bit of a slog to go through, especially since we start from their grandparents before we even get to the meat of the story, but in the right frame of mind and curiosity it's actually interesting stuff.
Had this book for ages and didn't get past Isabella's childhood, but after watching documentaries about Victorian life and in particular the lives of servants, I wanted to know more about the woman who wrote the often quoted Book of Household Management and what she really thought. So I gave the book another go. This time more successfully--like I said, right frame of mind and curiosity.
Some of the things Hughes brings up in the end of the book regarding--I don't want to call them scandals, but I guess we can say detraction about Mrs Beeton is that 1, she ruined British cuisine and 2, she plagiariased most of her cooking instructions from other writers, namely Elizabeth Acton (who as Hughes points out, isn't the only cookbook writer Mrs Beeton borrows from). In response to this, Hughes points out Mrs Beeton's role in 'ruining' British cuisine was only to solidify and perpetuate bad cooking practises (a lot of which resulting from the problems about produce the Victorians were facing at the time). She doesn't defend Mrs Beeton so much from the plagiarism implications although most cookbooks are pretty much written the same way.
Anyway, what I wanted to ask though is: how can a woman who only plagiarised the cooking instructions in her book have ruined British cuisine?? If she copied Acton by the letter, I don't see how she's to be blamed for cooking vegetables for 2 hours. It's one or the other, please.
But that's probably sophistry.
The thing is, Mrs Beeton didn't live long enough and there weren't enough accounts of her for us to get the real picture of who she actually was, but Kathryn Hughes gives us something to work with.
Had this book for ages and didn't get past Isabella's childhood, but after watching documentaries about Victorian life and in particular the lives of servants, I wanted to know more about the woman who wrote the often quoted Book of Household Management and what she really thought. So I gave the book another go. This time more successfully--like I said, right frame of mind and curiosity.
Some of the things Hughes brings up in the end of the book regarding--I don't want to call them scandals, but I guess we can say detraction about Mrs Beeton is that 1, she ruined British cuisine and 2, she plagiariased most of her cooking instructions from other writers, namely Elizabeth Acton (who as Hughes points out, isn't the only cookbook writer Mrs Beeton borrows from). In response to this, Hughes points out Mrs Beeton's role in 'ruining' British cuisine was only to solidify and perpetuate bad cooking practises (a lot of which resulting from the problems about produce the Victorians were facing at the time). She doesn't defend Mrs Beeton so much from the plagiarism implications although most cookbooks are pretty much written the same way.
Anyway, what I wanted to ask though is: how can a woman who only plagiarised the cooking instructions in her book have ruined British cuisine?? If she copied Acton by the letter, I don't see how she's to be blamed for cooking vegetables for 2 hours. It's one or the other, please.
But that's probably sophistry.
The thing is, Mrs Beeton didn't live long enough and there weren't enough accounts of her for us to get the real picture of who she actually was, but Kathryn Hughes gives us something to work with.
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