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An exhibition aiming to debunk the myths surrounding Dickens’ wife has opened at the Charles Dickens Museum.
Celebrating the life of the famous writer, the exhibition showcases a combination of personal items and letters on display in her former home.
The Other Dickens: Discovering Catherine Dickens takes the focus off of Dickens and onto the ‘funny and intelligent ghost in his life’.
Curator Lilian Nayder, who wrote a biography on Catherine Dickens in 2011, said: “Catherine Dickens’ story was untold.
“She was kind of like the ghost in life of Charles Dickens, but she was funny, intelligent and very well-read.”
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Catherine and Charles were married from 1838 to 1858 and several rumours about the couple began to circulate when they separated.
The exhibition also explores the role Catherine played in Charles’s success, her place in London’s literary scene, and her needlework skills.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is a collection of six pieces – Hearing Catherine – made by the sound artist Felicity Ford to celebrate Catherine’s life by allowing visitors hear her voice as they move around the museum.
Ford said: “She hasn’t been represented as strongly as this before and, somehow, I snuck in the sound of her on every level of the house. I’m just hoping it will give people a different sense of this museum”, she said.
The exhibition runs until November 20, 2016.