NAUGHTY VICTORIANS

Adultery Abortion Contraception Other Unspeakable Horrors

Naughty Victorians lifts the starched petticoats of 19th-century propriety to reveal the delightfully messy truths hidden beneath. With wit as sharp as a corset stay, author David Rountree unpacks the double standards, sexual taboos, and delicious hypocrisies of the Victorian era, focusing on America’s primly scandalized society. From the perfumed parlors of upper-class women to the grim tenements of immigrant families, this book explores the lives of real people—particularly women—navigating a world obsessed with virtue while frequently indulging in vice.
Based on true newspaper reports and historical texts, Naughty Victorians uncovers the absurdity of moral panics, the dangers of pseudoscientific sex advice, and the radical voices (like Mary Gove Nichols) who tried to bring truth and autonomy into a world terrified of both. It's an eye-opening, often hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking chronicle of sexual politics, social roles, and medical absurdities.
If you've ever wondered what people really thought about sex, morality, and the human body during an age of repression, or if you enjoy well-researched history served with biting humor and warm empathy, Naughty Victorians is for you. It's history with a smirk—and maybe a raised eyebrow