M. V. Hughes (1866–1956)

The author of this lovely memoir states at the outset that nothing really noteworthy happens to her, and in a lot of ways that is true. However, her thoughts and impressions of life from 1870 to 1900 are a riveting window into Victorian England. She journeys to America and Canada as a young adult, and her impressions of the colonies gave me a perspective that I hadn't ever seen. She trains as a teacher, and her insights into both teaching and kids are timeless. She's learned enough to send show more me to Google to translate some Ovid which she assumed any reader would know and sent me to the dictionary more than once with words like ataraxy but at the same time she's handy enough in the kitchen to aver that all bread needs is time and warmth.

Here's a bit on bread:
"People dislike the idea of trying this for themselves because of the 'time it takes'. The bread certainly wants time, I assure them, but not their time; it doesn't ask to be watched, and can be trusted alone in the house; the actual labour in making a batch takes about six minutes from start to finish. But they shake their heads in a melancholy way as they ask for another slice.

Recommended to anyone with a shred of curiosity. show less

Lovely continuation of the London trilogy. I found it interesting, telling and almost unbearably poignant that Hughes wrote of her life up to her marriage and then started this last memoir after the death of her beloved. Put me in mind of Donne ('twere profanation of our joys...) and made me long for a dose of British reserve in my daily papers. Hughes wrote vividly, accessibly and well. I adored this book as I adored the first three. Highly recommended.

In this sweet book, readers are treated to a glimpse of real, day-to-day life in England during the mid-late Victorian era. The author was the youngest child in her family, the only girl with four older brothers, and it's comforting to see that sibling behavior isn't much different then from what it is now. There are hours spent squabbling, playing make-believe, and being forced by your parents to do things that you'd rather not have to do. At its core, life isn't really much different 140 show more years ago.

Molly's mother, who had come from a wealthy and educated family in Cornwall, encouraged her daughter to be curious and adventurous in her learning and experiences. However, Molly was not segregated from the sentiments of her time. For example, she was forbidden from attending theater or live entertainment as her brothers freely could. She was educated in the Victorian style, meaning not much formal education - it wasn't until she was over 10 years old that she attended a traditional school. Her brothers were in private schools from a very young age, and many of them attended university and all of them went on to independent careers.

Molly was reared to be what was expected of her - a wife, mother, and not much more. Although this was the spirit and presumption of the time, it wasn't as though the author automatically internalized and accepted it. In fact, there are so many examples of situations where, in her young life, Molly is exasperated and frustrated by the fact that there are so many things she wants to do, or places she wants to go, but cannot because she is a female. It gives a modern reader pause to reflect on how far society has come with regard to gender equality, but also how far it has yet to go.

Another interesting point of reflection is on the technological advances that society has experienced. Transportation, for example, was a much different experience. Buses were pulled by horses or other such animals. The streets were mostly dirt and mud, not the asphalt-topped smooth experiences we know today. Trains were much slower and less precise with their timetables, and journeys were far more arduous. It makes one appreciate modern travel, for its convenience, relative comfort, and cleanliness.

The daily activities of housekeeping, even with household servants, were also much more tedious and physically demanding than they are now. The effort to cook and serve a meal in the 1870's is much greater than what we know in our modern society. The maintaining and cleaning of clothing and household linens was an arduous ordeal. No automatic washing machines or electric clothes irons to be found. The relative ease and quickness to obtain a load of clean laundry nowadays is something many of us take for granted. After reading A LONDON CHILD, that is no longer the case.

One of the greatest takeaways from this book was the general freedom that children had in London, which was a far less populated city in the 1870's than it is now. Running around to nearby parks and Gardens was not uncommon, and parents were not constantly chaperoning their children. If playing with siblings or friends resulted in the breaking of a window, nobody was too upset. But, it is important that the reader remember that Molly Hughes wrote this long after her childhood had passed. Although she reportedly kept journals throughout her life, I suspect that she might have been wearing some rose-colored glasses when she wrote these experiences down. As we all would be inclined to do. show less

Oh goodness now I am hooked ...by Molly and her interesting life......much more detailed and vivid than the first book ,as she is older and having a lot more experiences to write about....she had me a the great critical account of how bonkers education and it's rules in school often are....
However as a bright girl she rose to higher ranks and was better treated....became rather a pioneer of teacher training in fact.
Also we see the start of romance and more family news...
Very engrossing to show more me,many will not find it so I can imagine.....my father was finding it dull at times... show less