And the tone they're delivered in is also very enjoyable. I knew some of these facts because I read a lot of historical fiction, but others were new to me. For example, did you know that those beautiful corsets crushed women's rib cages and moved their organs around (and also stank to high heaven)? Did you know that foundation was a heavy "enamel" made of lead? That soap contained arsenic? That strychnine and tapeworms were handy diet tools? That doctors had electric masturbation machines to treat women with hysteria? That underwear was crotchless? In UNMENTIONABLE, Oneill discusses all manner of R-rated factoids about the Victorian era that you most likely didn't learn in school. We have a tendency to romanticize the past, and focus on the feel-goodsy aspects of it that make for good films and A+ school dioramas when the truth is, it's the past for a reason. But I would never, ever want to live there. I enjoy the language, the costume porn, the odd customs, the strange romance of it. I love historical romance, specifically historical romance that takes place in Regency and Victorian times.
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