In The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook (1888), Flora Annie Steel and her co-author Grace Gardiner give practical and highly opinionated advice to young memsahibs in India. Covering all aspects of household management from the duties of servants to recipes, the manual sheds fascinating light on the entire imperial experience. 'fascinating, immensely detailed...a priceless insight into the mindset and even the character of those women out there,imposing their will and their ways amid the "alien corn" surrounding them.'