Unmentionable Audiobook By Therese Oneill cover art

Unmentionable

The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Unmentionable

By: Therese Oneill
Narrated by: Betsy Foldes Meiman
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.48

Buy for $19.48

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era?

Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there's arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn't question.)

Unmentionable is your hilarious, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on:

  • What to wear
  • Where to relieve yourself
  • How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating
  • What to expect on your wedding night
  • How to be the perfect Victorian wife
  • Why masturbating will kill you
  • And more

Irresistibly charming, laugh-out-loud funny, Unmentionable will inspire a whole new level of respect for Elizabeth Bennett, Scarlett O'Hara, Jane Eyre, and all of our great-great-grandmothers.

(And it just might leave you feeling ecstatically grateful to live in an age of pants, superabsorbency tampons, epidurals, antidepressants, and not dying of the syphilis your husband brought home.)

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2016 Therese Oneill (P)2016 Hachette Audio
Satire Marriage Funny Comedy Witty
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"A down-and-dirty perusal of the realities of hygiene and womanhood in the Victorian era. The truth behind slimming corsets, virtuous nuptials, and strict morals is sometimes shocking, occasionally alarming, but always funny with Oneill's wry commentary." ( Library Journal)
"Flat-out hysterical (and occasionally alarming).... Read it and be very, very glad you're a woman of modern times." ( Good Housekeeping)
"Oneill uncovers the filthy, untidy, licentious conditions of 19th-century women's lives that novelists of the period often glossed over." ( Elle)

What listeners say about Unmentionable

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    490
  • 4 Stars
    224
  • 3 Stars
    92
  • 2 Stars
    30
  • 1 Stars
    19
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    564
  • 4 Stars
    119
  • 3 Stars
    55
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    445
  • 4 Stars
    199
  • 3 Stars
    82
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    16

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully funny

I adored this book. It is so witty, so well read, full of fun and shocking facts any fan of the Victorian era will love.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hard to enjoy but very well researched

It's filled with sarcastic comments and bitterness making it, most of the time, very hard to enjoy. I thought it would be a 19th century guide, and the criticism would be delivered in a more subtle way, but no. The author cannot deliver one single piece of information without mocking it, which turns out to be very annoying.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely hilarious 😂

If you are looking for a deep dive, and nuanced account of womens lives during the Victorian era, this book is not it. If you are however looking for deep belly-laughs while also learning a bit more about the lives of your foremothers, then dive in. I could barely put this book down, the wording is poignant, personal and hilarious. I will forever more speak of my vagina as "the sacred vestibule".

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Starts out entertaining, grows tiresome

I was hoping for something far more historical in nature, and while I did find some interesting facts at the beginning of the book, the latter half became tiresome and hateful. Sarcasm is an excellent spice, but makes a poor main course.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not the best

Not the best book, in the first couple chapters it mentions too much about bowel movements. Not exactly the humor that I was looking for....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eww just be ready to think it

It I am referring to is all the Unmentionable information in the Victorian age that no one talked about during our favorite films and books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Couldn't put it down

Highly fascinating read. really delves into the day to day of wealthy women. I would have preferred a bit more of the other classes' lives. There's also a bit of a patronizing affectation by the narrator and text which is awkward. It's very clearly a deliberate and effective literary tool, but still awkward to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and informative

A well-researched exploration of women's life and health in the Victorian era that definitively de-romanticizes the time period. Topics covered included dress, marriage, masturbation, and menstruation, among others. The witty quips from the author to the reader, however, did become somewhat annoying - at some point I was more interested in the subject than the author's snarky commentary. Overall, would recommend this funny and informative read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Funny and Informative

I now know more than I need or necessarily (in some cases) wanted to know about the private lives of Victorian Women! The narrators were engaging and the content was interesting! Good read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very funny and learned a lot

Very well written and researched. if you ever wanted to know what it would really be like to live as a Victorian woman, this is the book. The fact she acknowledges what you know in the present and how it differs from that time period is great, and done in a humorous tone. I love this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!