Love books by ordinary people recalling their childhood.
This is very interesting, it sure if would like this family or not..
Lots of detail but not as much as hoped...
One thing that really annoyed was " the servants" refered to like this but no names or description at all! ( )

Prev. issued as A London child of the seventies.Replaced by hardcover copy of all three parts. 2008-01 ( )

In this sweet book, readers are treated to a glimpse of real, day-to-day life in England during the mid-late Victorian era. The author was the youngest child in her family, the only girl with four older brothers, and it's comforting to see that sibling behavior isn't much different then from what it is now. There are hours spent squabbling, playing make-believe, and being forced by your parents to do things that you'd rather not have to do. At its core, life isn't really much different 140 years ago.

Molly's mother, who had come from a wealthy and educated family in Cornwall, encouraged her daughter to be curious and adventurous in her learning and experiences. However, Molly was not segregated from the sentiments of her time. For example, she was forbidden from attending theater or live entertainment as her brothers freely could. She was educated in the Victorian style, meaning not much formal education - it wasn't until she was over 10 years old that she attended a traditional school. Her brothers were in private schools from a very young age, and many of them attended university and all of them went on to independent careers.

Molly was reared to be what was expected of her - a wife, mother, and not much more. Although this was the spirit and presumption of the time, it wasn't as though the author automatically internalized and accepted it. In fact, there are so many examples of situations where, in her young life, Molly is exasperated and frustrated by the fact that there are so many things she wants to do, or places she wants to go, but cannot because she is a female. It gives a modern reader pause to reflect on how far society has come with regard to gender equality, but also how far it has yet to go.

Another interesting point of reflection is on the technological advances that society has experienced. Transportation, for example, was a much different experience. Buses were pulled by horses or other such animals. The streets were mostly dirt and mud, not the asphalt-topped smooth experiences we know today. Trains were much slower and less precise with their timetables, and journeys were far more arduous. It makes one appreciate modern travel, for its convenience, relative comfort, and cleanliness.

The daily activities of housekeeping, even with household servants, were also much more tedious and physically demanding than they are now. The effort to cook and serve a meal in the 1870's is much greater than what we know in our modern society. The maintaining and cleaning of clothing and household linens was an arduous ordeal. No automatic washing machines or electric clothes irons to be found. The relative ease and quickness to obtain a load of clean laundry nowadays is something many of us take for granted. After reading A LONDON CHILD, that is no longer the case.

One of the greatest takeaways from this book was the general freedom that children had in London, which was a far less populated city in the 1870's than it is now. Running around to nearby parks and Gardens was not uncommon, and parents were not constantly chaperoning their children. If playing with siblings or friends resulted in the breaking of a window, nobody was too upset. But, it is important that the reader remember that Molly Hughes wrote this long after her childhood had passed. Although she reportedly kept journals throughout her life, I suspect that she might have been wearing some rose-colored glasses when she wrote these experiences down. As we all would be inclined to do. ( )

A London Child of the 1870s is Molly Hughes' memoir of growing up in middle class London in the 1870s. The youngest of five and the only daughter, she and her brothers managed to get in and out of trouble quite regularly and sound like they had quite a bit of fun along the way. I think my favorite part though is when they travel to her mother's people in Cornwall and stay at the family's farm. But such an idyll can only last so long before darkness follows, and in Molly's case it comes quickly out of the blue.

A lovely, nostalgic look at a happy Victorian childhood. Recommended for those interested in the period or those who enjoy memoirs of childhood. ( )

A London Childhood of the 1870s by Molly Hughes; (4*)

My thoughts and comments:

I began this one in bed last night and now, well into it, I am absolutely charmed by this little memoir of 5 siblings told in the voice of the youngest & the only daughter of the family. Even though I grew up some 80 years later, my siblings like she & her brothers, made do with what we had for entertaining ourselves & learned a lot by doing so. We did not know it nor would we have agreed with that at the time. The remark that they benefited by their upbringing much more so that the wealthy children of that era really struck me and I think that perhaps she is quite right.
This is a charming memoir and I was quite taken with it. ( )