First, UNMENTIONABLE is more than interesting. Because of Therese Oneill’s presentation, this book is also laugh-out-loud funny. I loved it for putting the lie to all the fiction, in both books and movies, about the 19th century, especially about the lives of women then.

Oneill begins with women’s clothing. Just think of the beautiful 19th century dresses we see in movies such as “Gone With the Wind.” (Although Oneill usually refers to “Victorian” rather than “19th century,” I think “Victorian” sounds so England, and I am most concerned with the United States. I choose "19th century.”) I never imagined everything Scarlett O’Hara would have gone through to look that way. And I never knew that she probably wouldn’t have looked that way for long.

UNMENTIONABLE brings up all sorts of unmentionables, too, such as “Bowels Into Buckets,” bathing in the 19th century, menstruation then, birth control, and “Being a Good Wife.” And did you ever think about how dirty the 19th century was? Just walking down the street was filthy, including the air.

The last few chapters are mostly about women’s expected behavior during the 19th century. Oneill discusses women’s expected behavior in both England and the United States but does not differentiate between the two. I would have liked the differences to be more clear sometimes, but that is my only complaint.

Read UNMENTIONABLE. You’ll never read or watch a movie about the 19th century without picturing their unmentionables again.