Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
I don't normally read non-fiction. Fiction is my wheelhouse, so this was a bit outside my comfort zone.
Nelly Ternan, Dickens mistress for the final 13 years of his life, is an enigma. A woman who's existence was concealed by Dickens during his lifetime, and effectively whitewashed by his estate after his death. Tomalin's task was not an easy one, to reconstruct the life of a figure who clearly had a profound impact on Dickens, yet history and respectability would rather remained in the shadows. It is a task she manages with expert skill, piecing together a life from playbills and covert references in the few letters and papers which escaped the bonfire. She presents a woman both pulled along a path by powers and wills stronger then hers, but also a deeply resourceful woman who through everything life threw at her found a way to survive and at times thrive. Inevitably we also gain an insight into Dickens. A man of contradictions who bares little resemblance to the personal persona he wished the public to see. On the one hand he had an interest in helping "fallen women" and others in need, on the other was a man with an indomitable will who could bully those into getting what he wished, cruelly and unceremoniously separated from his wife, and took a mistress. Not exactly the personification of the respectable Victorian gentleman.
Ultimately the book raises as many questions as it tries answer. With such little information to go on, the truth will likely never be known about Nelly Ternan and her relationship with Dickens, but Tomalin goes some distance in at least presenting a hypothesis based on what little information exists.
Nelly Ternan, Dickens mistress for the final 13 years of his life, is an enigma. A woman who's existence was concealed by Dickens during his lifetime, and effectively whitewashed by his estate after his death. Tomalin's task was not an easy one, to reconstruct the life of a figure who clearly had a profound impact on Dickens, yet history and respectability would rather remained in the shadows. It is a task she manages with expert skill, piecing together a life from playbills and covert references in the few letters and papers which escaped the bonfire. She presents a woman both pulled along a path by powers and wills stronger then hers, but also a deeply resourceful woman who through everything life threw at her found a way to survive and at times thrive. Inevitably we also gain an insight into Dickens. A man of contradictions who bares little resemblance to the personal persona he wished the public to see. On the one hand he had an interest in helping "fallen women" and others in need, on the other was a man with an indomitable will who could bully those into getting what he wished, cruelly and unceremoniously separated from his wife, and took a mistress. Not exactly the personification of the respectable Victorian gentleman.
Ultimately the book raises as many questions as it tries answer. With such little information to go on, the truth will likely never be known about Nelly Ternan and her relationship with Dickens, but Tomalin goes some distance in at least presenting a hypothesis based on what little information exists.
A brilliant book, a wonderful historical examination of the mystery surrounding Charles Dickens's mistress, Ellen Ternan. I'm not sure I agree with all of Claire Tomalin's literary criticism / assumptions about Dickens's novels themselves, but the history is brilliantly told and the book thoroughly engaging - well worth a read if you're interested in Dickens!
The Invisible Woman is the story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens. With so many letters destroyed, and lies told to maintain the public’s view of the great author, much of this story is guess work, or background history. I quite enjoyed the social history, and the details about Dickens’ work, but the lack of information about Nelly, the way she was erased from history, left her largely without personality, and the relationship between her and Dickens, without heart. I think I would have enjoyed an imagined version, told as a novel, better than this bringing together of scant facts and possibilities.
Well read audio version. There is a movie coming out, but somehow I think Dickens will look less of a bastard in it.
Well balanced in terms of looking at Dickens and Nelly. Tomlin doesn’t gloss over the problems and goes into detail about the society. Well done.
Well balanced in terms of looking at Dickens and Nelly. Tomlin doesn’t gloss over the problems and goes into detail about the society. Well done.
I'm not a fan of Dickens or particularly interested in him. I purchased the book second hand purely because it looked interesting. I found it a fascinating history of a woman in Victorian England.
"But his life was knocked into the wrong shape early on, and after that nothing could set it quite right. Of all the participants in the story of Nelly and Dickens, Geoffrey appears to have been the most cruelly damaged."
medium-paced
informative
mysterious
Nelly Ternon. A beautifully crafted biography of the woman who Charles Dickens chose to adore, in lieu of his wife, the mother of his many children. Nelly's importance in his life is undeniable but the facts are sketchy regarding Dickens. The mysteries of her story and how they might interlace with his are well-researched and fascinating.
I appreciate so much that Tomalin was so interested in this subject that she researched it and created such an interesting portrayal of a woman who's importance in literature may be quite significant but who's name could have easily vanished. Brava.
I appreciate so much that Tomalin was so interested in this subject that she researched it and created such an interesting portrayal of a woman who's importance in literature may be quite significant but who's name could have easily vanished. Brava.
This was an interesting book. Before reading it, I had no idea of who Nelly Ternan was, although I had been aware of Dickens' domestic troubles. The most intriging part of this book for me were the well detailed aspects of theatre life in Victorian England and attitudes towards it. I found that over all, this book depicted a way of life that has largely been ignored in studies of the time period, but was somewhat lacking in pertinent details about the lives of Nelly and Dickens. This is largely due to the lack of remaining documentation about their lives due to destruction of letters and diaries and a lack of disclosure by both families about the truth of their relationship. This is hardly surprising given the social mores of the time, and lead the author to speculate regarding some events, but the speculation was admitted to and documented as well as the author could under the circumstances. Readable and educational, especially for those interested in the theatrical world and in Dickens himself.