Dimensions
162 x 242 x 35mm
When Charles Darwin published 'The Origin Of The Species' in 1859 his place in history was assured, but of his strong and intelligent wife Emma little was known.
As young women Edna and her sisters made the Grand Tour and kept lively diaries, to which Edna Healey has had privileged access, as well as to many hitherto unpublished family letters. Emma was a fluent linguist and a brilliant pianist, was widely read and could talk intelligently on current affairs. But most of her life was overshadowed by personal tragedy: the early death of her beloved sister, Fanny, the loss of two of her ten babies, the death of her 10-year-old daughter, Annie, and the constant worry of Charles's frequent illnesses.
Although not a scientist herself, Emma understood Charles's work, read his proofs and welcomed his scientific friends warmly to their home in London's Bloomsbury and, subsequently, Down House in Kent. Her portrayal by Edna Healey is a perfect example of beautifully researched and elegantly written nineteenth-century history which will fascinate everyone interested in the notion of a "wife of fame".
