Why read A Sultry Month?

Book cover of A Sultry Month: Scenes of London Literary Life in 1846

Book description

Wine and dine with Victorian London's literati in a heatwave in one of the first ever group biographies, introduced by Francesca Wade (author of Square Haunting).

Though she loved the heat she could do nothing but lie on the sofa and drink lemonade and read Monte Cristo .

'Never bettered.'…

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Why read it?

1 author picked A Sultry Month as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jonatha Ceely

Author

There is something magical about this book. It’s a brilliant piece of research and a touching evocation of a particular summer when, among other things, the poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett were secretly planning their elopement, Tennyson was planning a walking tour in Switzerland that included a visit to Charles Dickens, P. T. Barnum was touring with “General Tom Thumb,” and the artist Benjamin Haydon was approaching suicide. I was bowled over by the richness of lives lived packed into just two hundred pages.

From Jonatha's list on The best books for expanding your understanding of women in 19th century England.