Dickens' Fur Coat and Charlotte's Unanswered Letters: The Rows and Romances of England's Great Victorian Novelists

Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.: Harpercollins, 1997. First Edition First Printing Stated . Hard Back. As New/Near Fine. 6 1/2" X 9 1/2. 282 Pages Indexed. White boards with tan quarter-spine wih gold lettering Embossed logo on front board. Ex Libris label on front endpaper. No other defects, marks or stamps to this otherwise As New book. Dust jacket price unclipped. In a previous boo Pool unlocked the mysteries of the English novel. Now Pool turns his keen eye to England's great Victorian novelists themselves, to reveal the surprisingly human private side of their public genius. And, for most of them, it was indeed the best of times and the worst of times: Charles Dickens, the literary superstar of the day, inspired havoc wherever he went- while his domestic scandals became fodder for early gossip columnists. A shy and introverted Charlotte Bronte, after breaking onto the London literary scene from her secluded Yorkshire home of Haworth Parsonage, battled rumors about being Thackeray's mistress while suffering unrequited love for her London publisher, George Eliot received accolades but no calling cards, because she was living in sin. Thackeray, while enjoying the success of Vanity Fair, had his own vanity singed when his children named their pets after the characters created by his archrival, Dickens. This book explores the publicity stunts, bitter rivalries, rows, and general mayhem perpetrated by this group of supposedly prudish, yet remarkable passionate and eccentric authors and publishers.