Arthur Munby, barrister and published poet, met Hannah Cullwick, Shropshire scullery maid, on London's Oxford Street in 1854. They had in common a sexual obsession: Munby adored watching Hannah 'in her dirt' and she responded to him with a literally slavish devotion. Amply documented in their letters and diaries, this is the compelling tale of a clandestine relationship that was to last for over fifty years.
'Shadowy figures at the edge of Victorian life, they might almost have stepped out of a Dickens plot' Claire Tomalin, Evening Standard
'Arthur and Hannah have been lucky with their biographer...Diane Atkinson has a generous appreciation of all the nuances and paradoxes of their bizarre relationship' Mail on Sunday
'In the letters and diaries of Hannah Cullwick and Arthur Munby, Diane Atkinson has discovered a gem of a story...Love & Dirt successfully presents an important historical document in a highly readable, accessible form...a fascinating insight into aspects of Victorian sexuality' Sunday Independent
- ISBN10 033039228X
- ISBN13 9780330392280
- Publish Date 2 January 2004 (first published 17 January 2003)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 12 February 2010
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Pan Books
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 384
- Language English