It is distinctly eerie - every book I'm reading at the moment appears to have variations on the same theme (quite accidental I assure you!). I commented previously on the "ordinary lives of women" theme; have a look at this:

'Now, there is Agatha Slade, poor girl! She's of a kind I know by heart. With birth and beauty she is perfectly helpless. Her people are poor enough to be entitled to aid from the Charity Organisation, and they have had the indecency to present themselves with six daughters - six! All with delicate skins and delicate little noses and heavenly eyes. Most men can't afford them, and they can't afford most men. As soon as Agatha begins to go off a little, she will have to step aside, if she has not married. The others must be allowed their chance...But Agatha has not had any special offer, and I know both she and her mother are a little frightened. Alix must come out next season, and they can't afford frocks for two. Agatha will have to be sent to their place in Ireland, and to be sent to Castle Clare is almost like being sent to the Bastille. She'll never get out alive. She'll have to stay there and see herself grow thin instead of slim, and colourless instead of fair. Her little nose will grow sharp, and she will lose her hair by degrees.' (p.31)

This delectation is from THE MAKING OF A MARCHIONESS by Frances Hodgson Burnett (yes, she of THE SECRET GARDEN fame!). Originally published in 1901, republished by Persephone in 2001. Isn't it extraordinary how women's lives in the west (regardless of class) have changed in the past century?