Mr & Mrs Charles Dickens
Her Story
After twenty-two years of marriage, the world-famous author banished Mrs Dickens (Catherine) from their home with their nine children and wrecked her reputation to protect his own when he fell in love with an eighteen-year-old actress.
This is Kate's story: a poignant self-portrait of a woman struggling to achieve peace of mind by making sense of a marriage that defined, but nearly destroyed her. Sifting through her husband's letters after his sudden death she relives the happy times they shared but also speaks up for herself to expose the darker side of the man the world reveres.
On her deathbed, Kate asked her daughter to give Charles's letters to the British Museum 'so the world may know he loved me once.' This novel fulfils her dying wish and restores her to history as more than a famous author's discarded wife. It bestows on Kate the respect, dignity, agency and voice she was denied in life.
Reviews
A readable and convincing insight into the thoughts and feelings of Catherine Dickens in the 24 hours after the death of her husband. Based on thorough research, Annie Elliot, provides us with an understanding of both the love and misuse experienced by this caring wife and mother throughout the 22 years of marriage to Charles Dickens.
Author of Charles Dickens and Georgina Hogarth, A Curious and Enduring Relationship
In her lifetime Catherine Dickens was too often the supporting act to her husband's starring role. Annie Elliot’s meticulously researched, empathetic reimagining of Catherine, at long last, places her centre stage in the Dickens family drama
This absorbing novel brings Catherine Dickens, nee Hogarth, out of obscurity, giving her a voice of her own and a distinctive character. It successfully performs a tricky balancing act between meticulous historical accuracy and an imaginative recreation of a believable, flesh and blood woman. The author comes over as fully entering into the life of her central character, and enables us to do so too
The author set out to give Catherine Dickens a voice, a woman so often overruled and silenced by her dominant husband. By using fictional scenes and accurate accounts the author has imagined the newly widowed Catherine’s recollections of her marriage, starting with her first meeting Charles in the newspaper office, then their family life together and finally their separation. By giving Catherine a voice this book gives glimpses of the feisty woman Catherine could have become.
Annie Elliot’s exciting debut Mr & Mrs Charles Dickens – Her Story – So the world may know he love me once, had me hooked from the very beginning. I love a literary historical novel and especially one that illuminates an untold story. In this instance, it’s Catherine ‘Kate’ Dickens, the long suffering wife of Charles Dickens. Elliot has done a great deal of research and woven many literary characters of the day into her novel without in the least weighing it down. She’s drawn a huge cast of characters – almost a Dickensian novel in its own right – and all are well drawn and memorable. She’s particularly adept at depicting the increasingly intolerable domestic burden Kate shoulders. I genuinely cared about her and was incensed by her treatment. Highly recommend.
Meticulously researched and beautifully crafted, Annie’s novel gives life and voice to Kate Dickens and brings her from the shadows to which she was relegated by Charles' dominance and cruelty. Kate deserves to be read and understood in this moving, illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable account.
