Street Writing Man
One thing to keep in mind about real-world Victorian England was the rise of spiritualism and the occult. People loved ghost stories, oogie-boogie stuff and secret societies. this was the time of Alister Crowley, The Order of the Golden Dawn, the Masons, etc. etc. So, horror/magic stories would not be out of place, depending on the prevalence of magic in your world.
And yes, there were a lot of private boarding schools. Mainly because the idea of public schooling (at least for higher education) was still in its infancy as I understand it.
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~
Her with the hat
Victorian Literature
. Pick a genre or authors you are familiar with, and work from there. (Supernatural stories do get a mention)
And Google informs me that proper schools for girls only really started in 1850, and the girls in question would be from very well off families. Girls would be much less likely to go off to schools than boys, and with few exceptions would only learn basics + home-making skills.
Street Writing Man
"finishing schools" were also a big deal according to my research; girls didn't actually study academic matters but they did study how to be a "lady".
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~
Might want to give penny dreadfuls a mention, if nothing else for laughs.
edited 25th Nov '10 11:19:40 PM by GiantSpaceChinchilla
One of my stories is set in a steampunkish fantasy world. One of my characters is a noble who's obsessed with a certain kind of novels. I thought detective stories, but that would be... Off.
Any suggestions on what kind of stories she would like? Said character is curious, energetic and has a strong sense of justice.
Also, I read in late victorian times there were a fairly big number of schools. Please tell me I didn't get my information wrong.
Also, it would be too ridiculous if older middle class girls had to go to a school? I know it's my fantasy world, but I don't want things to get too stupid.
edited 25th Nov '10 4:26:51 PM by risingdreamer
Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker