What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist: The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England

Devotees of Austen, Dickens, the Brontes and the like will enjoy this overview of everyday English life in the era depicted by that nation's greatest novelists. As an aid for readers of vintage fiction, Pool, a lawyer turned freelance writer, has compiled more than 60 short chapters that cover the public, private and ``grim'' aspects of life in 19th-century England, appending a long glossary and a bibliography. Beyond his lucid presentation of the historical facts, Pool offers a series of intriguing narratives: tracing the evolution of the hunt, for example, and explaining the persistence of grave robbers. Frequent references to well-known novels help elucidate institutions, customs and practices that have for the most part lapsed into obscurity. At times, these constant examples become monotonous; but fans of the English novel, even if they have a low tolerance for secondhand Trollope, will want to have this useful volume at hand. Illustrations. BOMC, QPB and History Book Club alternates. (July)