Charles Dickens In Love

In this well-researched biography, Gettysburg College English professor Garnett analyzes Dickens's love life and its effect on his masterful novels and legendary career. Though it is well known that his greatest passion was for Mary Hogarth, the younger sister of his former wife, Garnett begins with the story of the writer's earliest sweetheart, Maria Beadnell. While most biographers claim that Beadnell had little impact on Dickens's career, Garnett argues that Beadnell "%E2%80%98had pervaded every chink and crevice'" of the young man's mind and asserts that, when Dickens's hopes were dashed, "writing replaced wooing." From there, Garnett addresses Hogarth in greater detail and reveals the origins of that romance. Garnett suggests that both relationships inspired aspects of David Copperfield, ensuring that both women are forever part of his legacy. Deftly intertwining details of Dickens's personal history with a discussion of his writing, this is both an intriguing and romantic account. Illus. (Dec.)