The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens

by Claire Tomalin

This is the story of someone who – almost – wasn’t there; who vanished into thin air. Her names, dates, family and experiences very nearly disappeared from the record for good …’ Claire Tomalin’s multi-award-winning story of the life of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens is a remarkable work of biography and historical revisionism. It not only returns the neglected actress to her rightful place in history, but provides a compelling and truthful portrait of the great Victorian novelist.

`A biography of high scholarship and compelling detective work’ Melvyn Bragg, Independent.

• ISBN10: 0140121366
• ISBN13: 9780140121360
• Publish Date: 26 September 1991 (first published 20 March 1991)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 1 November 2012
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

Quite an interesting read about a woman who has been largely written out of Dicken's life. A woman who may or may not have been his mistress but with the secrecy surrounding her and her relationship with Dicken, and from the belief of many of the people around her (including at least one of Dicken's children) was.

This is an interesting account of her life and the way she was written out of the story. You can see the frustration of the author as she tries to link some details together but fail because of the lack of evidence, evidence that was burnt or destroyed.

Nelly Ternan was an actress, from a family of actresses and lived on the fringes of society. When she and Dickens met (and there is evidence that they did act together, in playbills etc) her life changed, along with the life of her family. The jury is still out whether it was all a good or bad thing.