Review: Interesting, particularly if you have read books from that era
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2013
Back in the dark ages of 1994, I visited Bath and wandered into the Costume Museum. A very well informed lady with a "cut crystal" accent was leading a guided tour and I slithered into the back of it. The costume museum starts with France 1700s and ended in the 1990s and with each tableaud figure was an account of how the costumes reflected the wearer's status in society, the employment or business he or she might have had and the domestic background in which they lived. Behind Jane Austen's Door reflects the set up in the museum and is an interesting, if short account of life in the Regency period, which actually only spanned the 20 years when the Prince Regent was in power.I enjoyed this account, though it was short and didn't go as deeply into the business and employment interests as it might have. However, to be fair, it doesn't pretend to be anything more than a novella-length, simple account of the lifestyle and expectations of the women in that era. If one has read Austen's novels, then the information in the book would mean more than if one hadn't.This small book would be a good resource for students.