The story is told through two women. Kate Hogarth, who meets the journalist Charles Dickens when she is just 19 and the two become infatuated. And Anne Brown, an orphan who has nothing but is determined to make something of her life, and who is engaged to work in the Dickens household.

In the early days of their marriage, Kate and Charles delight in each others' company, but as his fame grows, he becomes increasingly frustrated by his lack of control of the people he wishes to direct and manipulate.

Anne's employment with the Dickens family quickly becomes vital and she relishes the life it offers her, but it comes with a cost.

The years go by and the marriage weakens. Kate looks to Anne for friendship and solace, but Anne's loyalties are divided as Charles seeks to control all their futures.

This was a long, immersive read, full of detail of the period with sensitive attention to the women so dominated by Dickens. 

This is the second novel by Emily Howes. I very much enjoyed her first book, based on the life of Thomas Gainsborough, called 'The Painter's Daughters' and interviewed Emily for 'Suffolk' magazine and for Felixstowe Book Festival.