Katey: The Life and Loves of Dickens's Artist Daughter
About this book
Katey Dickens was a 19th-century "It Girl"—an artist, socialite, and the beautiful daughter of Charles Dickens. In this illuminating biography, Lucinda Hawksley, herself Dickens’s great-great-great-granddaughter, recreates the life of an extraordinarily determined girl who defied Victorian convention to live and love as an independent woman. Blessed with a privileged upbringing, Katey pursued her love of painting, acted in her father's plays, modeled for John Everett Millais, and enjoyed a high profile in society due to the notoriety of her father. Yet she refused to be eclipsed by her father and fought to establish herself as an artist in her own right. Katey was driven to marry young by a turbulent family life and following a sexless yet companionable marriage with Charlie Collins, brother of the famous author Wilkie Collins, Katey fell in love with and married the handsome Italian artist Carlo Perugini. Despite finding happiness with Perugini, Katey was prone to deep depression, particularly following the death of her father and baby. Yet she continued to pursue her career as a painter while also championing her father's works and befriending such eminent figures as J.M. Barrie and George Bernard Shaw.