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Girl in a Blue Dress
Girl in a Blue Dress | Gaynor Arnold
5 posts | 5 read | 11 to read
The celebrated debut novel inspired by the life and marriage of Charles Dickens Alfred Gibsons funeral is taking place at Westminster Abbey, and his wife of twenty years, Dorothea, has not been invited. The Great Mans will favours his children and a clandestine mistress over the woman he sent away when their youngest child was still an infant. Dorothea hasnt left her small apartment for years, and accepts her exclusion until an invitation to a private audience with Queen Victoria arrives. The exhilaration of finding that she has much in common with the most powerful woman in England spurs Dorothea to examine her own life more closely. Her recollections uncover deviousness and the frighteningly hypnotic power of the genius she married, but also raise questions about her own complicity in her unhappiness. Questions that finally compel her to face her grown-up children and the two women she has long felt stole her husband: her own younger sister, Sissy, and the charming actress, Miss Ricketts. This remarkable debut is as wise in the ways of the human heart as it is witty and vivid in its depiction of the charismatic Alfred Gibson, and the habits, mores, and personalities of Victorian London. From the Hardcover edition.
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Librarybelle
Girl in a Blue Dress | Gaynor Arnold
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I read this one ages ago, and it‘s one that I‘ve often recommended to people over the years. It has a low rating on Litsy, but I liked it. Maybe it‘s because of the indignation I felt towards Charles Dickens and his treatment of his wife, Catherine. This novel is based on the couple‘s relationship, which has gone down in history as odd and very complicated. I want to read more about her, just to see all the truths. #TheBlueDress #SoaringScores

CrowCAH Sounds like an interesting historical piece about social norms. 👗 5y
Cinfhen I‘m intrigued #stacked As always, thanks for sharing xx 5y
Reviewsbylola Loved this one! It was my first thought with this prompt too! 5y
89 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Reviewsbylola
Girl in a Blue Dress | Gaynor Arnold
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I'm away at my mom's lake cottage for the weekend so I'm posting a #shelfie from her guest room. #24in48

Centique Those are some cool retro ornaments! 😍 7y
JanuarieTimewalker13 I love built-in shelving! 7y
britt_brooke Love it! 7y
See All 8 Comments
Mdargusch 😱 quite an assortment of brick a brac. 7y
Mdargusch And moldy books. 😂 7y
Cinfhen Have fun 7y
rubyslippersreads ❤️ those ladies! 😊 7y
115 likes8 comments
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BookishHistorian
Girl in a Blue Dress | Gaynor Arnold
Mehso-so

Well written, but it felt like the author was looking for a way to show off all the 19th-century trivia she had learned. The writing felt a little too pre-meditated--if that makes sense? The book ending is lackluster as well, striking me as if the author was just tired of writing or couldn't figure out how to end the story. Most of all, this makes me want to read an actual Charles Dickens biography.

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BookishHistorian
Girl in a Blue Dress | Gaynor Arnold
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Starting in on a new book while debate whether or not to bail on #Cryptonomicon.