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A review by thevictorianarchivist
The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester
2.0
I wanted to like this book. But it took me a long time to get into the story, and even then, parts of it just seemed underdeveloped. I kept feeling like I was reading while distracted and therefore kept missing things when that wasn't actually the case. The writing just wasn't always clear and didn't effectively communicate the characters' actions or thoughts.
My biggest problem however, is that while so much of the plot is based on corsets and tightlacers, the author seems to have never put on a corset and didn't bother to try to interview any tightlacers before writing this book. One of the characters is killed off by being tightlaced to death, and mention is made of one tightlacer who apparently laced down so far her "liver split in two." While Victorian doctors liked to claim all sorts of ailments were caused by corsets (like cancer and tuberculosis), there is no actual documentation of anyone's liver ever being cut in two, or anyone dying of suffocation from being laced too tightly. In fact, modern MRI scans of corsetted bodies have shown that the internal organs are displaced and stressed no more than they would be during a healthy pregnancy.
I suggest the author pay attention to the more modern research into corsets and examine the anecdotal evidence from reenactors as well as the modern tightlacing community about what it's really like to wear a corset before she decides to make wild claims about their lethalness.
My biggest problem however, is that while so much of the plot is based on corsets and tightlacers, the author seems to have never put on a corset and didn't bother to try to interview any tightlacers before writing this book. One of the characters is killed off by being tightlaced to death, and mention is made of one tightlacer who apparently laced down so far her "liver split in two." While Victorian doctors liked to claim all sorts of ailments were caused by corsets (like cancer and tuberculosis), there is no actual documentation of anyone's liver ever being cut in two, or anyone dying of suffocation from being laced too tightly. In fact, modern MRI scans of corsetted bodies have shown that the internal organs are displaced and stressed no more than they would be during a healthy pregnancy.
I suggest the author pay attention to the more modern research into corsets and examine the anecdotal evidence from reenactors as well as the modern tightlacing community about what it's really like to wear a corset before she decides to make wild claims about their lethalness.