Katey Dickens was born into a house of turbulent celebrity and grew up
surrounded by fascinating, famous, and infamous people. From a very
young age, she knew her vocation was to be an artist.
Lucinda Hawksley charts the life of a celebrated portrait painter, who
redefines our preconceptions about Victorian women. Living to be almost
ninety, Katey survived an unconventional marriage, love affairs,
heartbreak, depression, and the challenges of being a female artist in a
male-dominated era.
Compelling and illuminating, Katey tells the story of a spirited woman
who found fame at the centre of the first celebrity phenomenon; it also
uncovers the reality of what it was like to be a child of Charles and
Catherine Dickens. This biography of Katey, celebrating her artistic
prestige - which saw her compared to Millais - is long overdue. The
details of her fascinating life await rediscovery.