
For twenty-three years, Jeanette Marshall, daughter of an eminent anatomist, recorded her impressions of the drawing room society of late Victorian London, which included such intellectual and artistic luminaries as Rosseti, Ford Madox Brown, and Burn Jones's mistress, Mary Zambaco. In constant pursuit of a husband, craftily steering a course between strong-mindedness and frivolity, she applied her brisk realism and caustic manner to paint a vivid and often unexpected picture of Victorian daily life. Drawing on these previously untapped diaries, Zuzanna Shonfield reconstructs the life of the Marshall family and charts the trials and fortunes, both comic and poignant, which befell these precariously privileged newcomers to London society.
This work investigates the social dynamics and domestic realities of a professional family navigating the rigid hierarchies of late Victorian London. Author Zuzanna Shonfield utilizes the previously unpublished diaries of Jeanette Marshall to construct a detailed account of the Marshall family's experiences. By synthesizing these personal records with historical context, the book examines the tension between social aspiration and the precarious financial and status-based realities of the era.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Historians and literary critics value this work for its authentic, unvarnished look at the daily life of the Victorian middle class. Readers frequently note that the prose maintains a high level of historical accuracy while remaining accessible to those interested in social history.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
1987-05-21
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192122657
ISBN-13:
9780192122650
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