
Ungovernable
The Victorian Parent's Guide to Raising Flawless Children
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $22.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dara Rosenberg
-
Betsy Foldes Meiman
-
By:
-
Therese Oneill
From the author of the "hysterically funny and unsettlingly fascinating"* New York Times best seller Unmentionable, a hilarious illustrated guide to the secrets of Victorian child-rearing [*Jenny Lawson]
Feminist historian Therese Oneill is back, to educate you on what to expect when you're expecting...a Victorian baby! In Ungovernable, Oneill conducts an unforgettable tour through the backward, pseudoscientific, downright bizarre parenting fashions of the Victorians, advising us on:
- How to be sure you're not too ugly, sickly, or stupid to breed
- What positions and room decor will help you conceive a son
- How much beer, wine, cyanide, and heroin to consume while pregnant
- How to select the best peasant teat for your child
- Which foods won't turn your children into sexual deviants
- And so much more
Endlessly surprising, wickedly funny, and filled with juicy historical tidbits and images, Ungovernable provides much-needed perspective on - and comic relief from - the age-old struggle to bring up baby.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Therese Oneill (P)2019 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"An entertaining look at Victorian-era parenting advice...Oneill's irreverent guide is a reality check for those who might romanticize the era of strict self-discipline and unchallenged parental authority." (The Washington Post)
"This wild ride through 19th-century child-rearing is an exploration of anal worms, strange tinctures, inappropriate education, child labor, and questionable food stuffs. Readers will learn the altogether shocking practices of Victorian parenthood-and be reminded that people did live to tell the tale.... The author's breezy style strikes an amusing and marked contrast with the subject matter, which hopefully keeps readers focused on their successes as modern, enlightened parents-which the Victorians also considered themselves, a fact that is slyly related in delicious irony. While Oneill will likely not supplant Spock and Brazelton, she may well set parents at ease in her own hilarious way." (Booklist)
"Unmentionable transports us back to the world of middle-class 19th-century women, with special emphasis on the messy details that costume dramas airbrush out.... With a 4-year-old's scatological glee, Oneill details the logistics of old-time peeing, pooping, gestating, menstruating and mating... Oneill has dug up some lovely tidbits from the dustbin of history." (New York Times)
People who viewed this also viewed...


















Great narration!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Unexpected and Hilarious
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not as good as its predecessor
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listening to some of this was hard. Not going to sugarcoat that. The way kids were treated was horrible.
The worst chapters were the toward the end and I wish that actual people did not live through that.
I noticed that some people were not happy that this book went the route of using humor to share this information, but I think it helped get the message across.
The narration was lovely- the subject matter dark
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the two narrators were hilarious
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've been waiting So long for this!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
great fact based information
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Both are written and performed in an entertaining way that draws you into enjoying history.
History in an entertaining way
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Its light hearted but very informative. I'm a Nurse so I love to hear of historical "cures", treatments, medical school of thought. etc. And as Mom, I found the child rearing info very interesting
absolutely hilarious. Love her humor
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great style, content, and reader
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.