Publisher Description

Immerse yourself in the vanished world inhabited by Jane Austen and her contemporaries! Packed with detail, and anecdotes, this is an intimate exploration of how the middle and upper classes lived from 1775, the year of Austen's birth, to Jane's death in 1817. Sue Wilkes skillfully conjures up all aspects of daily life within the Regency period, drawing on contemporary diaries, illustrations, letters, novels, travel literature and archives. Were all unmarried affluent men really 'in want of a wife?' Did Mr Darcy seduce Elizabeth Bennet with the aid of a male corset? Could 'taking the waters' at Bath and other spas kill or cure? What hidden horrors lurked in elegant Regency houses? Put on your dancing gloves and embrace a lost era of corsets and courtship! AUTHOR: Sue Wilkes has written extensively on social history. She is the author of seven books: 'A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England', 'Tracing Your Ancestors' Childhood', 'Tracing Your Lancashire Ancestors', 'The Children History Forgot', 'Tracing Your Canal Ancestors, Regency Cheshire', and 'Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives: The Industrial Revolution in Lancashire'. She is also a regular contributor to a variety of national history and genealogy publications. 16 page plate section

Notes

Lifts the lid on the world of privilege depicted by Jane Austen, revealing the grubby realities of life in Regency England. Would Elizabeth Bennet have fended off bed bugs? And did Mr Darcy create his masculine figure with a corset?

Author Biography

Sue Wilkes has written extensively on social history. She is the author of seven books: A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England, Tracing Your Ancestors' Childhood, Tracing Your Lancashire Ancestors, The Children History Forgot, Tracing Your Canal Ancestors, Regency Cheshire, and Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives: The Industrial Revolution in Lancashire. She is also a regular contributor to a variety of national history and genealogy publications.

Review

"This guide for visitors is an excellent guide for readers of Jane Austen's novels as well. The abundance of information about everyday living adds an extra dimension of familiarity to the conduct and relationships of the characters. This book is a worthy contribution to the field of Austen social history and uses the mundane realities of life to illuminate the reader's experience."-- "Sensibilities"
"This is an ingenious volume. The author, who has written extensively on social history and on genealogy, provides us with a detailed guide book to the habits, facilities, sights and values of Southern England in the early 19th century. Her walk-through of the territory is attractively supported by extensive quotations from the works of Jane Austen herself and from contemporaries. The text is lively and well arranged and the anecdotes relevant and illuminating. This is a book which Janites will enjoy and which will provide an informative context to the novels."-- "Federation of Family History Societies"

Review Quote

"This is an ingenious volume. The author, who has written extensively on social history and on genealogy, provides us with a detailed guide book to the habits, facilities, sights and values of Southern England in the early 19th century. Her walk-through of the territory is attractively supported by extensive quotations from the works of Jane Austen herself and from contemporaries. The text is lively and well arranged and the anecdotes relevant and illuminating. This is a book which Janites will enjoy and which will provide an informative context to the novels."

Details