The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Read this book to immerse yourself in Victorian London and better appreciate the works and life of Charles Dickens. Not a biography, but a guide to living in the city during the era, with all the good and bad things that went along with that.
The author cleverly uses Dickens’s great powers of observation to explore the history and evolution of city life. The topical chapters were well-organized and included a lot of detail about subjects like cemeteries, weather, immigration, markets, prostitution, food, transportation, entertainment, sewage, and much more.
I do wish I’d had an interactive map, or series of maps, of London so I could follow along better. It would have helped to be more familiar with the neighborhoods and streets discussed.
The audiobook was expertly narrated by Corrie James.
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