The Invisible Woman Audiobook By Claire Tomalin cover art

The Invisible Woman

The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Invisible Woman

By: Claire Tomalin
Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.47

Buy for $15.47

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan met in 1857; she was 18, a hard-working actress performing in his production of The Frozen Deep, and he was 45, the most lionized writer in England. Out of their meeting came a love affair that lasted 13 years and destroyed Dickens's marriage while effacing Nelly Ternan from the public record.

In this remarkable work of biography and scholarly reconstruction, the acclaimed biographer of Mary Wollstonecraft, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Pepys, and Jane Austen rescues Nelly from the shadows of history, not only returning the neglected actress to her rightful place, but also providing a compelling portrait of the great Victorian novelist himself. The result is a thrilling literary detective story and a deeply compassionate work that encompasses all those women who were exiled from the warm, well-lighted parlors of Victorian England.

©1990, 1991 Claire Tomalin (P)2012 Tantor Art & Literature Authors Historical Women Biography

Critic reviews

"Captivating.... An absorbing book about...a character who helps to illuminate the life of a great artist and the life of her times." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

People who viewed this also viewed...

A Life of My Own Audiobook By Claire Tomalin cover art
A Life of My Own By: Claire Tomalin
Thorough Research • Detailed Detective Work • Superb Narration • Historical Context • Victorian Headset
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I didn’t expect to hear about the fascinating world of the Victorian theatre in a story entwined with Charles Dickens, but there nestled in this hidden history, it was. Claire Tomalin has done some serious research for the entire book, not just the Victorian theatre. I highly recommend it. The narration by Wanda McCaddon had good tone and rhythm and the British accent made it a joy to listen to.

A unique insight

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nothing Tomalin tells us about Charles Dickens's behavior towards his wife, children and mistress — most of it unforgivable — undoes the brilliance of his novels. I wish I could cancel such a selfish man from my cultural heritage, but that would mean forgetting "Bleak House," "Great Expectations," and "A Tale of Two Cities" Can't do it.

Icky Story of a Great Writer Who Was an Icky Man

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I just finished A Tale of Two Cities this week (highly recommend) and remained in a Dickens mood. I saw this book, checked out some mixed reviews, and gave it a go. I loved it! Full disclosure, I was a history major and some people might find this book a bit dry reading/listening, but the author painstakingly places the reader in the Victorian headset, absolutely necessary to understanding Ellen’s situation and options. Tomalin is methodical in rebuilding the Ternan sisters’ long lives. When the author speculates, she lets you know she is doing so (though it isn’t that often). If you are looking for a salacious biography, this isn’t it. The Invisible Woman is a masterful book of detailed detective work that creates a clearer understanding of Dickens - not a saint but a flawed genius.

Carefully Researched and Beautifully Read Biography

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have to begin by saying that I am not a Dickens fan, and as I read this book, I began to like him even less. Tomalin focuses on Dickens's relationship with the Ternan family, in particular his presumed affair with the youngest daughter, Ellen, best known as Nelly. She was only 18 at the time their affair began, Dickens 45. The Ternans were an acting family, and Dickens used his prestige first to persuade Mrs. Ternan and the girls to perform in his play 'The Frozen Deep,' then to secure various roles for her with his theatrical friends. Before long, he abandoned his wife (the mother of his 10 children), spreading rumors about her mental health and the ingratitude of her family members for all his assistance. (Wikipedia notes, "Matters came to a head in 1858 when Catherine Dickens opened a packet delivered by a London jeweller which contained a gold bracelet meant for Ternan with a note written by her husband.") Dickens began to lead a double life, leasing and purchasing a series of homes for Nelly, her sisters and her widowed mother--homes deliberately located further and further from the public eye. After all, the man whose works were supposed to be the moral compass of England couldn't be caught with a mistress! His financial and personal arrangements were handled through coded letters to friends who acted as go-betweens, including Wilkie Collins. Nelly was kept such a deep, dark secret that her identity was even hidden when she suffered a serious injury in a train derailment while traveling with Dickens. Tomalin posits that she had at least one, and perhaps two, pregnancies by Dickens but lost both babies shortly after birth. Later in life, long after Dickens's death, Nelly supposedly confessed the affair to her pastor, saying that she greatly regretted it and loathed Dickens in those last years but could not, financially, break away.

The last section of the book addresses Nelly's life post-Dickens and the history of both the coverup and revelation of the affair.

I felt sorry for both Catherine, Dickens's long-suffering wife, and for Nelly, a young woman pressured by poverty and impressed by celebrity. As for Dickens, what a pompous, self-righteous hypocrite!

Dickens the Hypocrite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked this book, but because so much of the papers of Dickens and Ms. Ternan were destroyed by family members, it's conclusions are supposition and circumstantial. That said, I personally believe they did have a relationship and probably a one sided one. I think because of Mr. Dickens' literary genius he was able to "purchase" this woman as a companion and mistress. What woman of little means with a family to support could turn down such an offer?

I admit it's just my gut instinct, but I think it is valid.

The saddest part of this story is when Nellie's son discovers the facts of the relationship and he destroys all the papers and refuses to talk about his mother with anyone. Anytime someone puts someone on a pedestal and they come crashing down, this type of thing happens.

I haven't seen the movie version of this book yet but I expect to in the near future.

It is well researched with the amount of materials available today and I can recommend it on that basis.

The narrator does an adequate job.

The tale of a "purchased" woman.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Maybe we shouldn't mix philosophy with biography, but I almost always do; and this is the perfect book for it. No one is straight forward in this book, and that makes me think that the author has probably captured it right. I admire the way these women lived their lives, they were living against convention, and they made it work. When I think that this history almost never was, I also think of all the other histories of women (and men) who schemed and fought and overcame and then disappeared. I am glad we captured this one, I thought it was uplifting.

A tribute to those who remain invisible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved Claire Tomalin's autobiography, A Life of My Own and her definitive book on Jane Austin, A Life is a must read for any Janeite. A life of My Own is read by the superb Penelope Wilton and her reading of Tomalin's amazing life is superb. Sadly the reader of this title does not do it justice. Tomalin researches her subjects very thoroughly and one gets an extremely detailed account of every aspect of the world they live in and a wide circle of family and acquaintances. Immersing oneself in one of her books is a commitment! Although this is a fascinating look behind the curtain of Charles Dickens life and his partner I would recommend reading instead of listening.

Not for everyone

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a story of Charles Dickens and his mistress Nelly Ternan. He was 45 and she 18 when they met in 1857. I almost got more interested in Claire Tomalin detective search for information about Nelly Ternan. Apparently both Ternan and Dickens destroyed most of the written material about themselves and lived in a discreet way. The divorce of the Dickens was shocking to Victorian England, so they kept a low profile. I found it interesting to note that a life in the theater (acting) was an unfavorable occupation and more so for women at the time, they were social outcasts and were thought of as whores. Things sure changed in the 20th and 21 century we put actors at the top of our society. Claire Tomalin did a great job trying to provide an accurate biography of the two but I am sure she had to do some speculation and deduction also. Wanda McCaddon did a good job of narrating the story. Tomalin's discussion of Dickens and his contemporaries was interesting as I had recently added to my wish list a book by Anthony Trollope, apparently he and Dickens were friends. Tomalin did a good job of bringing to life the era of the 1850s. If you enjoy literature and history you will enjoy this book.

Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed reading about this family along with the history of Dickens as presented. I recommend for Dickens fans and Anglophiles.

Excellent Read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed the wide context this book provided for so many historical figures and events.

Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews