A History of Private Life

Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Sewing was believed to be part of a wife's essential duty in the 17th and 18th century, and also a way of keeping women at home safely occupied. If you were sewing you couldn't be wandering about or reading novels. But a fascinating diary by a woman who suffered from depression reveals that sewing could also give meaning to life and act as a valuable therapy. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.