author
Mamie Dickens
1838–1896
Best known for preserving a daughter’s-eye view of Charles Dickens, she turned family memory into books that helped shape how later readers imagined the great Victorian novelist. Her own writing is warm, personal, and closely tied to the literary world she grew up in.
1 Audiobook
My Father as I Recall Him
by Mamie Dickens
About the author
Mary "Mamie" Dickens (March 6, 1838 – July 23, 1896) was the eldest daughter of Charles Dickens and Catherine Dickens. Born in London, she grew up inside one of the best-known literary households of the Victorian era and remained closely connected to her father throughout his life.
She is remembered as a writer and editor in her own right. Mamie wrote My Father as I Recall Him, a memoir that offered readers an intimate picture of Charles Dickens at home, and she also worked with her aunt Georgina Hogarth to edit the first collection of his letters. Those books helped preserve family memories and played a lasting part in the public story of Dickens.
Mamie never married, and much of her reputation rests on the way she carried family history into print. For readers interested in the world around Charles Dickens, her work offers something especially appealing: not formal criticism, but affectionate firsthand remembrance from someone who knew him best.