I just need to finish this last page…

“The Novel Reader” from the Ladies' souvenir, New York: Leavitt and Allen, 1853.

Catalog Record | Enlarged Image with text | Adopt a Gift Book Home

This amusing scene taken from the Ladies' Souvenir of 1853 shows the chaos that ensues when Mom takes a break. She sits at the kitchen table, lost in her novel. It’s 12:15. The maid screams in her ear. Her husband is on his lunch break and wants to know where his meal is. It’s being eaten by a stray dog on the windowsill. The baby in its cradle screams for his mommy, and rats help themselves to flour and sugar in open jars. The author of the accompanying story stresses that reading books should be part of any young woman’s upbringing, but to remember that a woman’s first priority is the care of her home.

Adopted by Johanna McElwee