Dickens' Women

In his novels Dickens presents a series of unrivalled portraits of women, young and old. From Little Nell to Miss Havisham, these girls and women speak to us today, making us laugh and sometimes cry. The popular British actress Miriam Margolyes will be touring the world in 2012, the bicentenary of Dickens birth, with a one-woman show about Dickens' women, and this book accompanies the show by building on the script and expanding to include many more of the female characters Dickens described and analysed so astutely in his novels. The countries to be visited are Australia, New Zealand, the USA and India. 'Mrs Pipchin was a marvellous ill-favoured, ill-conditioned old lady, of a stooping figure, with a mottled face, like bad marble, a hook nose, and a hard grey eye, that looked as if it might have been hammered at on an anvil without sustaining any injury.'

Miriam Margolyes is a popular British actress, best known for her appearances as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. She is also a life-long Dickens enthusiast and presented the successful BBC TV documentary series Dickens' America. Sonia Fraser is an award-winning theatre director; she is currently co-writing a modern television series, filled with Dickensian characters.