Why read Campaigns of Curiosity?

Book cover of Campaigns of Curiosity: Journalistic Adventures of an American Girl in London

Book description

Campaigns of Curiosity; Journalistic Adventures of an American Girl in London is the autobiography of a girl from New Jersey living in London during the height of the Victorian Era.

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Campaigns of Curiosity as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Michelle Higgs

Author

Elizabeth Banks was an American journalist who settled in London around 1893. She undertook a series of ‘adventures’ in which she posed as a laundry girl, a crossing sweeper, a flower girl, a chaperone, an heiress, and a domestic servant. In working as a maid, she hoped to discover why domestic service ‘was looked upon with so much contumely’.

Originally published as "In Cap and Apron" in the Weekly Sun, Elizabeth’s experiences were then published in 1894 in Campaigns of Curiosity: Journalistic Adventures of an American Girl in London. It’s not clear how much artistic licence Elizabeth used…

From Michelle's list on The best books by Victorian servants telling their stories, warts and all.