Anne's Reviews > What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist—the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England

I was excited to read What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, a non-fiction trip into nineteenth century England once I saw the table of contents. Everything I need to know for better understanding of classic books is found here. It (includes and) goes beyond the typical topics such as social customs, clothing, calling cards, and housing to answer my curiosity on currency and the calendar, rules of Whist and card games, “Crime and Punishment,” “Sex,” occupations, “The Workhouse,” disease, doctors, and death to name a few. There is so much useful and interesting information in this book that it would be a wonderful resource to keep on your shelf. And the vast number of literary references (everything from Jane Austen to the Bronte’s to Trollope) there is sure to be at least some books mentioned that are known to novice and seasoned readers alike. Additionally, the one hundred- and thirty-five-page glossary is quite thorough. Plus, it has an extensive bibliography and index.

Unfortunately, despite this amazing collection of information, the book reads like a textbook and a dry one at that. While I loved the book references, there were so many, and many not only unknown to me but I wasn’t sure what the reference was referring to (whether it was a title, author or a character in the book), that I found it interrupted my reading. While the topics were of interest to me, I ended up skimming sections. The illustrations/maps/charts were either too small to read the content or too dark to appreciate the details. However, as a strict nineteenth century England reference book, it is a great resource to have on hand.