Catherine Dickens

Catherine Thomson "Kate" Dickens was a British author and purportedly a popular cook and author of a Victorian cookbook "What Shall We have For Dinner" under the pen name Lady Maria Clutterbuck. For about twenty years, she was married to the novelist Charles Dickens, during which time she kept up a large house and raised ten children. Following their highly public and very controversial separation, in 1858, Catherine was subjected to broader scrutiny in the press and increasingly defamed, many characterizations being, it was said, formed through her husband's public slander of her. Recent scholarly appraisals have tried to reinstate voice and agency to her, acknowledge her contributions to Victorian domestic culture, and reconsider the gendered dynamics of her marriage.