Dickens and the Rise of Divorce

Reviews / Votes

'Kelly Hager's wonderful new book questions English novel theory, which since Ian Watt has focused upon the courtship plot. Hager suggests another equally powerful framing of the English novel: failed-marriage plots or novels of "marital discontents". Although the chapters on Dickens are splendid in their careful close readings of the novels, Hager's original, well-researched, and beautifully written work compels us to reconsider not only Dickens's work, but also the entire canon of the English novel.' Deborah Denenholz Morse, Professor of English, The College of William and Mary, USA 'What's best about this book is not only the way it calls to mind scenes of lurid domestic discontent more frequent and more suggestive than any reader is likely to remember. More than this, its subtle sense of literary negotiation goes far toward explaining just why we forget them-or just how it is that we assimilate them (uncannily, melodramatically) without letting them altogether sidetrack the monorail of marital closure.' Garrett Stewart, James O. Freedman Professor of Letters, The University of Iowa, USA 'This provocative book is worthy because it challenges the reader to reexamine ideas about Dickens and the Victorian novel in general. Highly recommended.' Choice '... a fresh look at familiar material...' Dickens Quarterly 'An outstandingly engaging study, Dickens and the Rise of Divorce presents a sequence of fascinating re-readings of broken marriages in Dickens's fiction. Hager's analyses are astute and supported by the most attentive textual analysis, in which she examines even the most fleeting of references. Dickens and the Rise of Divorce is an important work that will change our understanding of Dickens and the family.' Review of English Studies '... scholars of both Victorian fiction and the history of marriage will profit from consulting Dickens and the Rise of Divorce. Even seasoned Dickens experts will be surprised and delighted by the details Hager's e