As a long time admirer of Violet Fenn’s writing style and attitude to life in general, I am delighted to be the first stop on the book tour for Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain.  My copy was kindly gifted to me by Violet and Pen & Sword books, Ltd.  The book was a gift but the opinion expressed in the following review is all mine.

 

Violet Fenn

I have “known” Violet, online at any rate, for about six years. She and her amazing site, Sex Death Rock’N’Roll were introduced to me by a wonderful mutual friend with the immortal words “I think you’d like each other – she’s looking for people to get their arse out!” hastily followed up with “No offence!”

Well. Absolutely none taken and I did indeed get my arse out. I’m not going to tell you which one is mine! The friend is sadly no longer with us, but I will be forever grateful that she brought Violet into my life.

 

 

 

Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain

As a dedicated follower of Violet’s writing in newspapers and on the internet, I was super excited when I heard she was writing a book. One that was going to be published and everything! I wasn’t thrilled to discover it was to be about the Victorian times, because to be honest, I’m not big into history (sorry Vi!). However, I’m as interested in sex and sexuality as the next person, so when I was offered a copy to read and review, I leapt at the chance.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  What an interesting book! Not at all lofty or superior in tone, but clearly written by someone with a thirst for knowledge and passionate about their subject. So much detail presented in a completely non-patronising way. More books like this could definitely pique my interest in history.

The chapters are all cleverly titled, (Beddings, Weddings and Bastards my personal favourite with an honorary mention for Lifting the Lid on Lust, because I have always absolutely adored alliteration) and enticing – there are even pictures! Nice to see some local places I recognised in there.

I learned a lot – Sex and Sexuality in Victorian Britain is informative as well as entertaining. I don’t know what the history department of my school was playing at, because no one ever told me that Queen Victoria changed her name! And English department, you can sit down as well – who knew that ‘shut’ meaning alleyway is thought to be a contraction of ‘short cut’? Come for the sex, stay for the grammar lesson!

In summary, I really enjoyed this book – it was somewhat outside of my comfort zone, but pitched at exacty the right level to make me want to learn more. Bring on the vampires!

To round off my review, I have been able to ask Violet a few questions about her book – I’m sharing her answers with you all here.

Massive thanks to Violet Fenn and to Pen & Sword books for giving me this opportunity.

 

 

 

Love the book Violet! It’s not my usual genre of choice but I really enjoyed it – what was your favourite chapter to write? I’m so glad you liked it! Hopefully it comes across how I intended – a chatty and entertaining overview of a much deeper and convoluted era of which I am incredibly fond.

Perhaps surprisingly, my favourite section is ‘One Night With Venus, A Lifetime With Mercury’, because it was fascinating to delve deep into nineteenth century attitudes towards sexual health and contraception. The Victorians were just as concerned as we are about pregnancy and STIs – they just didn’t have the knowledge or access to information and treatment that we have today. And of course, societal attitudes were often lacking – which is sometimes still sadly the case now, even in the 21st century

What was most surprising to you during your research? Just how independent minded the women were! This was the era that was building up towards female emancipation, of course, so some of it wasn’t all that unexpected. But the ways in which women gained some level of independence from such a patriarchal society are brilliant. The invention of the bicycle – an object that seems so simple to us today – gave women freedoms the like of which they’d never known before. It’s very difficult to be closely chaperoned when one is pedalling one’s own wheels!

Was there anything you wanted to put in the book that you weren’t allowed? Perhaps surprisingly, no! I’m very lucky in that the publishers allowed me to include pretty much anything I wanted, so long as it was done carefully and with respect for the topic. I think I had a couple of curse words censored by my editor, but that was more because I swear like a navvy without even realising I’m doing it, even when writing rather than speaking (I’ve been told I have the voice of Joyce Grenfell but with the vocabulary of a particularly irate fishwife, and I’m actually rather proud of that)

What was the first thing you ever had published? The first commission I was ever paid actual, real money for was a gig review in a music magazine, about thirty years ago. Before that, I wrote, produced and distributed a fanzine for local music and events, back in the days when ‘self publishing’ meant typing it all out on an Olivetti, getting it photocopied at a local printshop (they used to love me coming in each month, apparently mine was the sweariest writing they ever dealt with) and distributing it myself around local pubs. I’d genuinely like to get back into music writing at some point, I absolutely loved it.

Of everything you’ve written, what are you most proud of? This very book! And I’m honestly not just saying that because I’m promoting it at the moment. I’d been a professional writer and journalist for decades before I had the chance to write an actual, real book – and just as I was offered the opportunity, my personal life fell apart in a mess of death, heartbreak and general trauma. 2018 sucked balls, quite frankly. So the fact that I still got it written – and ON TIME, I’d like to point out for anyone who knows what a procrastinator I can be – is genuinely the biggest achievement of my life. Also it truly is one of my favourite topics – I love dispelling myths about the Victorians and showing how, despite the historical distance, they still had many of the same worries, hopes and desires as we have today.

That said, I’m currently doing the edits for my second book with Pen & Sword, which is a history of the vampire in popular culture. Vampires are so very much the top of my personal List of Favourite Things that it might supersede the Victorians as my favourite achievement. Ask me again in a year’s time 😉

And finally – if you could teleport back and live a year as a Victorian – would you? Oh my gods, not on your life! We have a tendency to look back at the Victorians through rose-tinted lenses, seeing them as determinedly forward-looking and almost modern in their attitudes. But in reality, the 1800s were as different to our modern lives as the 1500s would have seemed to Queen Victoria. The nineteenth century wasn’t a happy place for women with loud mouths and an attitude – I’d have been consigned to an asylum before my first week was out!

 

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Books History review Sex and Sexuality Victorians Violet Fenn