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Adventures of an American Girl in Victorian London (Victorian London Ebooks Book 11), by Elizabeth L. Banks
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[original title: 'Campaigns of Curiosity : Journalistic Adventures of an American Girl in London']
Elizabeth L. Banks (1870–1938) was an ambitious young American journalist (born in New Jersey, raised in Wisconsin) who worked as a typist and reporter in Baltimore, then took the unlikely post of secretary to the American Ambassador in Peru, before coming to London to seek her fortune. She achieved her goal admirably in 1894 with a form of 'stunt journalism' that had first been practised by James Greenwood, who dressed in rags and presented himself as a 'casual' pauper to the parish authorities, writing up his experience in his sensational article 'A Night in a Workhouse'. Banks, very much a late nineteenth-century 'New Woman', likewise decided to go 'undercover' amongst the poor — first as a servant, then in several other positions, masquerading as a crossing sweeper, laundress and, at the opposite end of the social spectrum, pretending to be an heiress, to see how easy it might be to buy one's way into the aristocratic upper echelons of London 'Society'. Banks's ploy was successful and the resulting articles became the talk of the capital — and guaranteed her a future career in journalism. Her own autobiography records the words of the Pall Mall Gazette ... 'Her strange, wild and curious adventures are the common theme of conversation in thousands of English homes ...' and, although Banks's subterfuge may not seem 'wild' to modern readers, it remains striking. It was the impersonation of a servant which caused the greatest furore, not least the fear that the upstart young American was promoting a very un-British egalitarian agenda, one sympathetic to the complaints of servants against mistresses, undermining the normal healthy relations between the classes. In fact, the book provides a rather too convenient comparison of two households — the first where the employer exploits and over-works her staff, the second where the cook and maids have the whip-hand over an overly timid and caring mistress. Banks herself, however, had no great political agenda. She confesses frankly in her autobiography that 'I did it for "copy" ... to earn my living'.
Such was the interest in Banks's work, that the press sought out the employers who were fooled by the artful reporter. 'Mrs. Allison' (not her real name) was interviewed by the populist Pick Me Up magazine and declared herself 'completely hoodwinked'. She claimed, however, that she only employed Miss Banks because of the pathetic story she told at interview about her penury, and that — contrary to the impression in the book — the cleanliness of her household suffered a good deal due to the reporter's ignorance. Mrs. Allison recounts how she knew there was trouble when her other maid informed her, 'Ma'am, the new housemaid's sweeping the stairs with a bonnet whisk!' In short, according to Mrs. Allison, her American employee 'did not hesitate to declare herself as competent and reliable, although she entered every house under false pretences without being able to sew on a button, darn a stocking, or scrub a floor'.
Banks's success was so great because her deception played on the existing fears of the middle- and upper-classes about servants, i.e. that, when members of the family were not present, staff were incompetent and/or deceptive — traitors beneath one's own roof — even if this only amounted to taking unwarranted 'perquisites' from household groceries, or seeing male 'followers'. Whether Miss Banks provides us with a completely truthful account or 'journalistic gingerbread' (to quote the rather unsympathetic Pick Me Up) I must leave it to the reader to judge — regardless, the book remains a fascinating read.
- Sales Rank: #136171 in eBooks
- Published on: 2012-04-07
- Released on: 2012-04-07
- Format: Kindle eBook
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
A fascinating glimpse into Victorian London
By Lark Spring
I found this Kindle ebook to be a fascinating glimpse into the lives of working girls in Victorian London (and the term 'working girls' as used here is not a euphemism for something else, though that would also have made for an interesting memoir.) The author, a practitioner of the 'new journalism' of the time, insinuated herself into service as a housemaid and parlour-maid in two different households - one whose mistress was pleasant and fair and the other not so. She also found work in various laundries and, more briefly, assumed the lives of a crossing-sweeper and a flower girl. What she discovered in all these employments is extremely revealing, not just to those reading her columns in a newspaper of the day but also to us, at our twenty-first century remove.
Many years ago I read Monica Dickens' similar books ('One Pair of Hands,' 'One Pair of Feet' and 'My Turn to Make the Tea'), and was delighted to come across this earlier version. Although 'Lizzie's' investigations don't match those of Dickens either in time spent or in humour, they are no less detailed. My one reservation about the account by the 'American girl' is that her fairly privileged upbringing sometimes betrays her into appearing to take the side of the employers more than she perhaps should have. It seems that following her reports she discovered that many servants felt that too.
This in no way spoils the various accounts, though. This is definitely a book worth reading if you have any interest at all in social history or the working lives of others - even now there are probably many young women in India whose days are not very different from those of young working women in Victorian London.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
A bit of history with plenty of wit and humor
By Katzkratch
I simply love books that make you feel like you were in a certain period of history. The author's wit and way of writing seems very fresh, not stodgy and boring as you might expect from something written at the time. I so wish to have been able to meet and talk with this very bright lady. To hear her describe the coarse flower girls (flower sellers) of the Cockney breed was something that totally brightened my day (or I should say midnight--I was reading late at night and had to leave the bedroom since I was snickering so loudly, I didn't want to wake my husband). She is very honest in her expose of some of the most common jobs that poor women held at the time. How in the world did they do it? And she also give a glimpse of the rising women's liberation movement in describing the desperate need for these women to have their independence doing work that sometimes just seems inhuman. I hated this book to end and will see if there are others by her. It was wonderfully entertaining and educational.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Truly interesting story...
By WoodsyGirl
This book is based off the real adventures of a female Victorian reporter who, in a truly pioneering way, went undercover in various trades and disguises in order to obtain a real glimpse into the lives of various London characters of the time. This book is wonderful, and truly provides insight, while being at the same time not to heavy in its style, it allows the reader to enjoy the short stories within, as well as to gain some insight into Victorian life and attitudes.
Wonderful!
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