It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Domestic Manners of the Americans

Domestic Manners of the Americans

Summary

When Fanny Trollope set sail for America in 1827 with hopes of joining a Utopian community of emancipated slaves, she took with her three of her children and a young French artist, leaving behind her son Anthony, growing debts and a husband going slowly mad from mercury poisoning. But what followed was a tragicomedy of illness, scandal and failed business ventures. Nevertheless, on her return to England Fanny turned her misfortunes into a remarkable book. A masterpiece of nineteenth-century travel-writing, Domestic Manners of the Americans is a vivid and hugely witty satirical account of a nation and was a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.

About the author

Fanny Trollope

Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more