Secret Gardens, Satanic Mills

"... While almost all of the essays would easily fit into larger literatures of family, sexuality, consumer culture, and/or domesticity, their publication together is especially illuminating as a way of seeing shifts in institutional and social perceptions of young unmarried women... This is a fine collection of articles that adds to our understanding of girlhood and even serves to justify a new historical focus on young girls who might otherwise have been overlooked for their historical unimportance as both young and female." —France

"These papers on a wide range of subjects concerning 18th- to 20th-century European young womanhood underscore the distinctive role young girls played in the economic, social, cultural, and political life of their respective countries. The articles prove conclusively that for the overwhelming majority of young European women, work outside the home was a reality. The book's most important feature is the broad overview of the ways in which European societies shaped girls through laws, schools, apprenticeships, sermons, and advice. The articles are divided into four parts. The first examines the experiences of lower-class girls in the working world. The second section discusses middle- and upper-class girls who, though not expected to work outside the home, were relentlessly groomed in order to achieve a proper marriage. The third group of articles illustrates how the increasing importance of scientific study in the late, 19th and early, 20th centuries defined young women by their bodies. The final section shows how work and leisure changed for young women of all classes throughout the late 19th century and into the modern era. An important addition to any discussion of European women. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries." —R. V. A. Gomez, Anne Arundel Community College, Choice, January 2006