Mrs Dickens
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Mrs Dickens
Narrated by:
Cathleen McCarron, Emily Howes, Kerry Gilbert
Buy Now for £18.89
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Narrated by:
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Cathleen McCarron
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Emily Howes
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Kerry Gilbert
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By:
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Emily Howes
'I adored this book' Florence Knapp
'An impressive, involving novel' The Times
'I was enthralled' Jennie Godfrey
London, 1835. Nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth falls in love with the young journalist Charles Dickens. In the early days of their marriage, Charles is infatuated with his bride and Kate delights in her new life, the balm to her husband's irrepressible spirit. But as he finds fame as a novelist and the family rise through the ranks of Victorian society, Kate becomes increasingly aware of his frustration that real people cannot be manipulated as easily as his characters.
Meanwhile, in the East End slums, a young orphan named Anne Brown has lost everything, but is determined to make her way in the world. A chance encounter with the Dickens family transports her to the heart of the household, opening up a world of privilege, travel and remarkable company. But her newfound freedom has come at a cost she cannot always ignore.
As the years go by and the family expands, the cracks in the Dickens's marriage deepen. Kate seeks comfort and companionship in her trusted servant, but whilst Anne has come to care deeply for Mrs Dickens, her loyalties are tested to breaking point as Charles takes control of their future . . .
Vibrant, witty and deeply moving, Mrs Dickens traces a long marriage in all its tenderness, grief, romance and fury. It illuminates the life of a complex, forgotten woman whose voice often went unheard, but whose story deserves to be told.
'Heartfelt and heartbreaking' Daily Mail
'A marvellous achievement' Emma Stonex
'Beautiful, heartbreaking, immersive' Roisín O'Donnell©2026 Emily Howes (P)2026 Orion Publishing Group Limited
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Critic reviews
Mrs Dickens has my whole heart. Will undoubtedly be one of my books of the year, with its unflinching portrait of a marriage unravelling, and the women who surround Charles Dickens. I was enthralled (Jennie Godfrey)
How beloved Mrs Dickens would have felt had she known that, all these years later, Emily Howes would take such care in giving her a voice. I adored this book. Richly compelling and beautifully drawn, the understated elegance of Emily Howes' writing offers a combination of warmth and stark insight that took my breath away (Florence Knapp)
A beautiful, heartbreaking, immersive novel, which brings a woman's silenced story back to vivid, irrepressible life. A story about the cost of male ambition, and the courage it takes for a woman to reclaim her own narrative. Howes' distinctive voice is so warm, so relatable, so companionable; readers will fall in love with Kate, or "Mrs. Dickens" (Roisín O'Donnell)
Mrs Dickens cements Emily Howes as a major new talent in historical fiction. Her reimagining of Catherine Dickens' life is intensely moving and constantly surprising, delivering both a gripping, lingering love story and a devastating portrait of a marriage in strife. I hugely admire Emily's ability to reach the heart of a woman forgotten by history, and give her back her voice. A marvellous achievement (Emma Stonex)
Emily Howes has done a wonderful job of recreating the world of my great-great-great-grandmother, Catherine Dickens, a woman who has long deserved to be brought out from the shadow of her husband. In Mrs Dickens, Catherine gets to enjoy her own life at last! (Lucinda Hawksley)
A genuine triumph. Emily Howes continues to astonish with her command of language and empathy (Amy Twigg)
Powerful, tender and evocative, Mrs Dickens is a deeply thoughtful contribution to our understanding of the life of Catherine Dickens. Emily Howes writes with great skill, plucking at the truth without flinching and exploring topics that are as relevant today as they were in the 1800s, from the manipulation of women by the men they love, to the ill treatment of mothers in society. She captures the complexities of their famous marriage, and the harsh realities of being married to a genius, with such depth . . . An impressive follow-up to her brilliant debut The Painter's Daughters, Emily Howes is a class act. I will be recommending to everyone! (Harriet Constable)
Incredible . . . it really blew me away. Emily Howes' writing is beautiful and her characters are so fully realised, complex and compelling. I loved it (Caroline Lea)
I loved Mrs Dickens; I couldn't put it down. A powerful and compelling portrait of a marriage, it made me question many of my previous assumptions about Charles Dickens. Part love story, part horror story, Mrs Dickens kept me gripped until the final pages (Flora Carr)
An interesting novel exposing the marriage of Charles and Catherine Dickens
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A story not often told
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