As we know, there have been a number of artistic and creative types among Dickens's descendants, including actors, artists, writers, and musicians. As you may or may not know -- I just found out relatively recently myself -- there was also another novelist!
Monica Dickens (1915-1992) was the daughter of Henry Charles Dickens and granddaughter of Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, Charles Dickens's eighth son. Although she could have lived a life of ease and luxury, Monica found that prospect unbearably dull. With a curiosity and energy reminicisent of her illustrious ancestor -- and often to the bemusement of her family -- she tried acting, cooking, nursing, journalism, and counseling, and she wrote about them all. As a popular and prolific writer during the mid-twentieth century, Monica turned out novels, memoirs, children's books, and newspaper columns. "In her day," according to critic Harriet Lane, "only Daphne du Maurier had better sales figures."
But in some ways, writing had been a career move fraught with peril. In her family, "Dickens was God," she once said. "It was like someone coming along after Christ and saying they were Christ too." But she tackled it with the same pluck and enthusiasm she brought to all of her endeavors, and while she may not have been Christ -- well, she made a very creditable disciple!
Unlike Charles Dickens's works, many of Monica's have gone out of print, but she's now experiencing a bit of a renaissance. She first came to my notice after her novel Mariana was reprinted by Persephone Books, which specializes in "neglected fiction and non-fiction by women, for women and about women." Below, I review that and one of her other books; tomorrow, I'll be reviewing a third one.
Continue reading "From the book pile: Great-granddaughter edition, part one" »
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