The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a remarkable feat of biographical sleuthing, Tomalin offers the fullest account to date of Charles Dickens's secret 13-year relationship with actress Ellen ("Nelly") Ternan. She was perhaps 18 when the famous 45-year-old novelist made her a "fallen woman," according to Tomalin, who presents a compelling case that Ternan was his mistress. He could offer neither steady companionship nor marriage, unwilling to jeopardize his virtuous public image with his Victorian readership, even after the affair apparently triggered his separation from his wife, Catherine. Tomalin, biographer of Mary Wollstonecraft and Katherine Mansfield, portrays a frantic Dickens slipping into self-delusion, falsely claiming that his marriage had been awful all along. After his death in 1870, Ternan, who outlived him by 44 years, married a reverend, wrote poetry, became a right-minded Victorian lady and helped maintain the secrecy surounding her association with Dickens. Besides offering a marvelous whirl through the "disreputable" world of the theater, Tomalin provides a new slant on Dickens as a writer uncomfortably trapped in his own conventional morality. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 317 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (March 20, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394579593
• ISBN-13: 978-0394579597
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,858,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tomalin is a great biographer, March 20, 2000

By	saliero (NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens (Paperback)

How many millions of words have been written about Charles Dickens? Many thousands in one famous biography alone (Ackroyd). Nelly Terman is there as the Mistress character in most of those, but what do we learn about Nelly? Nothing - until this biography.

It reads almost as a detective story as Tomalin uncovers not only the story of Terman-with-Dickens, but as much about Terman the woman as she can.

Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Elusive Nelly Ternan, January 26, 2009

By	Mark R. Brewer "Mark R. Brewer" (Pitman, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Claire Tomalin is one of the finest biographers alive. I've enjoyed her magnificent biographies on Samuel Pepys, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, and Thomas Hardy. How can one go wrong with any of her books? Her biography of Nelly Ternan is especially outstanding, as Tomalin really had to work like a police detective to find information about Ms. Ternan. She was Charles Dickens' mistress--the woman for whom Dickens set aside his wife. Dickens kept their relationship under wraps, which is why it is so difficult to find information about her. But Tomalin brings this beautiful young woman to life. Ternan's story is a sad one. She grew tired of Dickens over time (they were together for twelve years). She even grew to despise his touch, and after Dickens died, she kept her relationship with him a secret from her future husband and children.

This is a wonderful biography, beautifully written, and highly recommended.