Signature Books
9780413776433 £17.99 Methuen HB Publ 13th Nov
A vivid portrayal of the poor in mid-nineteenth century London and the people, including Charles Dickens, who were moved to help them.
Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women AI
London in Charles Dickens's time was a city of great contrast. The affluent and middle classes enjoyed a comfortable existence but for the poor, life was cruel and harsh, the more so for girls and young women. Troubled by what he saw, in autumn 1847 Dickens established Urania Cottage in Shepherd's Bush as a hostel for destitute young women. The residents came from prisons, workhouses and the streets of London, and included prostitutes, petty thieves and homeless teenagers.
Urania Cottage was financed by the millionairess Angela Burdett Coutts of the banking family and details of the residents, its routines and its dramas are brought to life in the treasure trove of letters written to her by Dickens. The aims of Urania Cottage were very simple - to rehabilitate the residents and to prepare them for a normal life as domestic servants in Britain's expanding Colonies - Australia chiefly but some went to Canada and South Africa.