This is a companion book that came with Season 1 of Emma, an anime series set in the Victorian era about a romance between two classes of society. The book presents itself as a gossip style newspaper, talking the events in the series as a gossip column. The book also includes information about everyday dress and living in Victorian England, and includes a brief glossary at the end.

The only reason I read this one is because I found it while browsing the shelves at my local library. It's not a straight history book, and the fiction is so blended with the nonfiction that I'm sure the accuracy of the historical fact could be called into question. I also found the gossip section at the beginning of the book to be drudgery, because I didn't really care about the characters (since I have never seen the show).

But the book did have some great drawings of Victorian clothing styles, and had diagrams of typical room layouts. It also had sections on local places that exist in England, showing what they looked like in the 19th century and what they look like now. So I enjoyed it for those moments, and it does make me want to go see the anime. ( )