Review by New York Times Review
Goodman's latest foray into immersive history is a revelation. A consultant on verisimilitude for British museums and a presenter of several popular BBC series re-enacting daily life in bygone eras, she has made a name for herself by literally walking in the shoes of the people she studies, at all levels of society. Here she dives into Tudor daily life, trying everything from sewing and starching ruffs ("a huge amount of work") to sleeping on a rush-covered floor ("genuinely comfortable"). She even experiments with 16th-century hygiene, forgoing hot, soapy water in favor of a nightly dry rubdown with a linen cloth and an occasional change of "smock and hose" (underwear). After three months of no bathing, she reports, no one even noticed - putting the lie to the popular notion that everyone in Tudor times was filthy and smelled to high heaven. Goodman's method acting is accompanied by a thorough tour of her research on every aspect of Tudor-era practicalities. Wills and probate inventories provide clues to what people owned and considered their most valuable possessions (beds were often first on the list). Manuals offer contemporary wisdom ("Above all earthly things, mirthe is moste excellent, and the best companion of life"). This fascinating book shows us commoners at their patriotic Sunday afternoon archery practice and Henry VIII playing tennis in a crimson satin doublet, with evening prayers for all. It's the next best thing to being there.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 31, 2016]
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Utilizing substantial research and her own experiences as an occasional historical re-enactor, Goodman (How to Be a Victorian) delves into the nuances of the daily lives of the average English person living during the era of the flashy, fraught Tudor court. She matter-of-factly starts and ends the chronicle with the sleeping area, but includes surprising details about clothing, food production, education, and more as she navigates the course of one 24-hour period. Goodman offers simple but thorough explanations of how things work-whether rope-strung beds or common, reliable hygienic practices-while still entertaining readers, making note, for example, of how her knowledge of the era's linguistics heightens her own enjoyment of Shakespeare's bawdiness. In fact, her participation in 15th-century bread-baking and other period activities offers specific insight on where previous historians and popular depictions have erred, especially regarding long-held notions of poor hygiene and invariably sedate dancing scenes. Although there's some discussion of the English Reformation's impact or other court-led legal changes, the emphasis remains on the ordinary and very practical people often overlooked by other Tudor-centric historical examinations. Throughout, Goodman's palpable enthusiasm and clear appreciation for the resourcefulness of the era's people make these men and women entirely relatable and yet full of surprises. Illus. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Goodman (How To Be a Victorian) is well known to lovers of BBC series such as Tudor Monastery Farm. Instead of kings and queens, this book focuses on the lives of ordinary people, from those in gentlemen's households to tenant farmers. Goodman leads readers through a typical day but manages to squeeze in quite a bit about children's education and the theater despite these experiences being uncommon to all people in the period. Chapters on men's and women's work explain in depth an everyman's trade or two, and while cheese and beer making are perhaps appealing topics to modern readers, the detailed instructions on how to prepare a field for plowing are perhaps less so. Later sections on washing and dressing are also particularly intriguing. Surprisingly, descriptions of food take up little space and are saved for the end. VERDICT Goodman describes lifestyles she's lived herself; that personal commentary is something readers will not find in other histories. This book will be of special interest to fans of the miniseries Wolf Hall, in which the author served as a consultant.-Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., -Emerson Coll., Boston © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An intimate look inside the 16th-century household. In this natural follow-up to How to Be a Victorian (2014), historian Goodman mines advice manuals, poems, letters, Shakespeare's plays, and even cookbooks to etch in captivating detail a portrait of life in Tudor and Elizabethan England. The majority of the population lived in the countryside, toiling from the cockerel's crow to sunset. They rose from bed in a drafty room, emerging, if they were lucky, from a curtained four-poster and feather bed, keeping them warm even in winter; from a ruder wooden bedstead and wool mattress; or, if they were servants or laborers, from a hay mattress on the floor. Goodman has tried them all. "I can confidently state," she writes, "why so many Tudor people gave beds a central position in their thoughts." The author has also donned typical linen underwear, confidently debunking the myth that medieval people reeked of body odor. Even without daily baths (proscribed to prevent pores from opening to "evil miasmas or foul air"), she "remained remarkably smell-free" after three months. Goodman has also eaten Tudor food: with many farm chores begun at dawn, dinner was served as early as 10:00 or 11:00. Bread was the staple, served at every meal, taking the place of rice, pasta, potatoes, and, often, vegetables. Goodman offers recipes for breads and porridge, describes all varieties of ovens, and discloses the proper way to roast temptingly succulent beef or lamb. Tudor food, she writes, is "fresh and seasonal and cooked over wood or peat fires whose smoke is a pleasant flavor addition." As to daily labor, the author has done enough ploughing with unwieldy ploughs to attest that it is exhausting. She has also made cheese, fashioned ruffs, shot Tudor-style bows and arrows, and learned to make silk braids, a skill at which her daughter became so expert that she was a hand double on Wolf Hall. Fresh and illuminating history. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
