Unmentionable Audiobook By Therese Oneill cover art

Unmentionable

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

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
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 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Unmentionable

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

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.48

Buy for $22.48

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

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 Literature & Fiction Satire Marriage Funny Comedy Witty

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)
Well-researched History • Witty Commentary • Exceptional Narration • Engaging Presentation • Eye-opening Information
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
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.

Wonderfully funny

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

Hard to enjoy but very well researched

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

Absolutely hilarious 😂

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's funny, engaging, and informative, but the exceptional narration really makes this book a gem. Upon finishing it, I promptly gifted a copy to a friend, as any proper young lady would.

Entertaining & Informative

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

Starts out entertaining, grows tiresome

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

Not the best

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

Eww just be ready to think it

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

Couldn't put it down

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

Entertaining and informative

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

Funny and Informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews