The untold history of pregnancy and childbirth in Victorian Britain
Jessica Cox is an academic in the Department of Arts and Humanities at Brunel University London, where she teaches and researches nineteenth-century literature and culture. She has authored books on Charlotte Brontë and Victorian and contemporary popular fiction.
... much-needed and intriguing study of childbirth and motherhood
in Victorian Britain.
*All About History*
'Confinement finds the life thrumming inside original Victorian
court documents and medical reports; inviting the reader to
experience the past in perfect authenticity. Cox anticipates the
modern reader's questions and answers them with sensitivity to
modern mindsets and grace toward Victorian ones. Confinement *is a
thoroughly researched deep-dive into Victorian maternity that even
the most casual paddler can access and enjoy.' *THERESE ONEILL, New
York Times bestselling author of *Unmentionable: The Victorian
Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners
Compelling, compassionate, and powerful, Jessica Cox’s Confinement
uncovers the moving and fascinating history of maternal bodies and
experiences in the 19th century. Meticulously researched and
elegantly told, Confinement is a necessary and vital work of
historical recovery. A beautiful book.’ ELINOR CLEGHORN, author of
Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made
World
‘This is a brilliant, original and deeply researched book. Jessica
Cox’s writing is both erudite and engaging, and brings to the fore
a subject that has too long been omitted from the historical
imagination. Confinement is sure to interest scholars from a wide
range of disciplines as well as the general reader.’ Prof. EMMA
GRIFFIN, author of Bread Winner: An Intimate History of the
Victorian Economy
‘This new book offers us a rare glimpse of the maternal experiences
of Victorian women. It encourages us to reflect on the rights,
responsibilities and restrictions of the birthing body, and how
they have been and continue to be debated, challenged and subject
to change.’ SARAH FOX, historian and author of Giving Birth in
Eighteenth-Century England
'Illuminating, provocative, and so engaging. Cox’s history of
motherhood is revelatory about a past that resonates powerfully
today. This important and timely book is written with great
intellect, grace and empathy. I cannot recommend it enough.’ HELEN
CULLEN, author of The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually
‘Confinement is a long overdue contribution to nineteenth-century
history. It’s astonishing to consider that while women’s bodies
have birthed the world, so little attention has been paid to the
realities of the maternal body of the past. This is an important,
fascinating and frequently shocking read.’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO,
author of Girl, Woman, Other
‘Compelling and compassionate … A fertile study of women’s history
and a real labour of love that is long overdue.’ KATE LISTER,
author of A Curious History of Sex
'Jessica Cox’s book is an enthralling account of the practicalities
and perils of maternity in the 19th Century, holding up a critical
lens to the dynamics of gender and social class in women’s lives.
Written in concise and elegant prose, Cox draws on a fascinating
range of personal and public archive material to bring the
complicated story of women’s bodies and childbearing to life.'
HANNAH LOWE, poet and author of The Kids (winner of the Costa
Prize)
'(an) excellent, compassionate and shocking study of maternity in
Victorian Britain.' BEL MOONEY, Daily Mail
'...Confinement will reward anyone interested, personally or
professionally, in the maternal experience – past or present.'
AGNES ARNOLD-FORSTER, History Today
*History Today*
‘…an illuminating read for any family historians wondering exactly
how their Victorian ancestors were born, and what their mothers
suffered in pregnancy and childbirth.’ Who Do You Think You Are?
Magazine
*Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine*
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