Bernadette Loeffel-Adkins “Widows Weeds and Weeping Veils” Book Signing

During the 19th century, death shadowed daily life. A high infant mortality rate, poor sanitation, risk during childbirth, poisons, ignorance, and war kept 19th-century Americans busy practicing the ritual of mourning.
The Victorian era in both Europe and America saw these rituals elevated to an art form expressing not only grief, but also religious feeling, social obligation, and even mourning fashion. Complete with period illustrations, Author Bernadette Loeffel-Adkins "Widow's Weeds and Weeping Veils" explores how Victorians viewed death and dying.