Having read Louisa’s Lament, you may be interested in learning more about life in London in the late 19th century. Here are a few selected books to dip into:
London in the 19th Century
Jerry White’s London in the 19th Century, published by Vintage Books in 2008, is a good starting point. You can thumb through Peter Ackroyd’s Thames: Sacred River, published by Chatto & Windus in 2007, and George Bradshaw’s Illustrated Handbook to London and its Environs, published by Bloomsbury in 1862, to add depth.
Mr Guy's Hospital 1826-1948
For more on the history of Guy’s Hospital, you will find Hector Cameron’s Mr Guy’s Hospital 1726-1948, published by Longmans in 1954, and Samuel Wilks’ and George Bettany’s A Biographical History of Guy’s Hospital, published by Ward, Lock and Bowden in 1892, give comprehensive monographs on the early development of the hospital and its medical staff appointments.
Victorian People And Ideas
If you are interested in the burgeoning print industry and reading public at this time, Richard Altick’s Victorian People and Ideas, published by Norton in 1973, and his The English Common Reader: A Social History of the Mass Reading Public, 1800-1900, published by the University of Chicago Press in 1957, offer a good introduction.
The Criminal Prisons of London and Scenes of Prison Life
Prison life is grim at any time, but real reforms took place, especially for women and children, during the mid-late Victorian period. To understand the scale of the problems faced by 19th century governments, peruse Henry Mayhew’s (with John Binny’s additions) The Criminal Prisons of London, and Scenes of Prison Life, published by Griffin and Bohn in 1862. Michelle Higgs’s Prison Life in Victorian England, published by Tempus in 2007, gives details of prisoners’ and staff’s daily routines.
The Victorian Church, Parts 1 & II
Religious tensions were at the heart of Miss Ingle’s story. If you want a reference text to dip into as you read about the Non-conformists, the High Church Anglo-Catholics, the Oxford Movement, and the problem of ‘Rome’ in English Society, one of the best is Owen Chadwick’s The Victorian Church, Parts I & II, published by SCM Press in 1987.
Independent Women
Life for women underwent great change in the 19th century. I found Martha Vicinus’s Independent Women, published by Virago in 1985, and Margaret Macmillan’s Women of the Raj, published by Thames and Hudson in 1988, very helpful when writing about Miss Ingle’s life as a professional woman in London and as an expatriate living in India. Susan Mumm’s Stolen Daughters, Virgin Mothers, published by Leicester University Press in 1999, and Carmen Mangion’s Contested Identities, published by Manchester University Press in 2008, introduce the Anglican Sisterhoods.
There is much more. If you want further selected readings, or to discuss the issues raised in Louisa’s Lament or any of the above, comment below and start a discussion.