What do you think?
Rate this book
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
History records that on June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died of a cerebral haemorrhage.
History, however, is wrong. June 9, 1870, is the day on which Emile de la Rue murdered Charles Dickens. During a stay in Genoa in 1844-45, Charles Dickens, an accomplished mesmerist, used his mesmeric abilities to treat a young Englishwoman, Augusta de la Rue, attempting to cure a years' long malady of hers that included facial spasms and phantom-filled dreams. During her trances she revealed to Dickens a truth she had long suppressed-the knowledge that her husband murdered a rival so he could have her for himself. Dickens, at that time, was helpless to act on the devastating admission, but twenty-five years later Emile de la Rue shows up in London, and Dickens finally seeks justice. De La Rue cannot let this happen and stops at nothing to keep Dickens from revealing his secret.
History, however, is wrong. June 9, 1870, is the day on which Emile de la Rue murdered Charles Dickens. During a stay in Genoa in 1844-45, Charles Dickens, an accomplished mesmerist, used his mesmeric abilities to treat a young Englishwoman, Augusta de la Rue, attempting to cure a years' long malady of hers that included facial spasms and phantom-filled dreams. During her trances she revealed to Dickens a truth she had long suppressed-the knowledge that her husband murdered a rival so he could have her for himself. Dickens, at that time, was helpless to act on the devastating admission, but twenty-five years later Emile de la Rue shows up in London, and Dickens finally seeks justice. De La Rue cannot let this happen and stops at nothing to keep Dickens from revealing his secret.
200 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2012
4 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
John Paulits
76 books8 followersJohn Paulits is a former elementary school teacher. He has published numerous children’s novels as well as numerous adult novels. You may visit his website for more details. www.johnpaulits@com The Empty Houses is John’s nineteenth children’s novel published by Gypsy Shadow. He lives in New York City and spends each summer at the Jersey shore.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 21, 2016
The incident in Charles Dickens' life when he attended Augusta de la Rue in Genoa, Italy, in an attempt to rid her of her demons is undoubtedly true. Dickens felt that he had an aptitude for mesmerism, hypnosis as induced through animal magnetism, so when Augusta's husband Emile approached Dickens about his wife's illness, Charles was all too ready to assist - particularly as Augusta was a strikingly attractive lady, 10 years younger than her husband.
Dickens attended her on numerous occasions and eventually left word that he should be called immediately at any time of the day or night if Augusta's condition deteriorated. As can be imagined this led to the unhappiness of Dickens' wife Catherine, who initially put up with her husband's absences but then realised, or thought she did, that there was something not quite right with the relationship and that her husband was spending more time with Augusta than with herself.
She put her foot down and the Dickens entourage moved out of Genoa briefly for a tour of southern Italy. But Dickens had left his complete itinerary with the de la Rues and therefore, at various ports of call on their travels, letters would arrive with an update of Augusta's condition. And when the de la Rues turned up at one of their hotels, by prior arrangement with Dickens, Catherine's patience was exhausted and she laid the law down to her husband that he must stop his administrations.
Reluctantly he duly did so, but not before he had identified the dark and surprising problems that had led to Augusta's illness, and he eventually returned to England where he received occasional updates from the de la Rues. But their meetings were over. That is until some years later when Emile turned up in London and met Dickens at his club. Dickens, by now well aware of the cause of Augusta's demons, was cold toward Emile and he confided why that was so in his close friend John Forster, who also gave Emile the cold shoulder.
Emile quickly realised why the pair had reacted this way towards him and was worried that details of his past may emerge. And when the first part of Dickens' final (uncompleted) novel came out, Emile realised that in 'Edwin Drood' Dickens was telling the tale of his and Augusta's early life (and crimes). This worried him for he did not know how far Dickens would go, so he decided that the novel had to be stopped before completion. There was only one way to do that.
Dickens was at this time seriously unwell but Emile could not risk some natural causes happening to him before 'Drood' was completed, so he decided to take his own action.
Even though 'The Mystery of Charles Dickens' is, I imagine, written as fiction, events up to the time of Emile's London visit are all historically correct, with dialogue added to support the story. But suddenly the tale takes on a conspiracy theory aspect. Emile's actions from that point on are very definitely open to debate but the long and short of it is that Dickens dies before 'Drood' is completed and Emile escapes being exposed for any earlier crimes. The fact that he dies on board ship on his return to Genoa is incidental for the damage is done by then, with Emile's actions being carefully documented.
Because of being a Dickens fanatic, the fact that the majority of the detail is correct and that the book does make for enjoyable reading, even thought the ending is open to serious debate (perhaps it is written merely as a hypothesis), I considered it worthy of four stars. But equally, if one was to think that the ending was told in a serious vein, it could well have been two stars!
Dickens attended her on numerous occasions and eventually left word that he should be called immediately at any time of the day or night if Augusta's condition deteriorated. As can be imagined this led to the unhappiness of Dickens' wife Catherine, who initially put up with her husband's absences but then realised, or thought she did, that there was something not quite right with the relationship and that her husband was spending more time with Augusta than with herself.
She put her foot down and the Dickens entourage moved out of Genoa briefly for a tour of southern Italy. But Dickens had left his complete itinerary with the de la Rues and therefore, at various ports of call on their travels, letters would arrive with an update of Augusta's condition. And when the de la Rues turned up at one of their hotels, by prior arrangement with Dickens, Catherine's patience was exhausted and she laid the law down to her husband that he must stop his administrations.
Reluctantly he duly did so, but not before he had identified the dark and surprising problems that had led to Augusta's illness, and he eventually returned to England where he received occasional updates from the de la Rues. But their meetings were over. That is until some years later when Emile turned up in London and met Dickens at his club. Dickens, by now well aware of the cause of Augusta's demons, was cold toward Emile and he confided why that was so in his close friend John Forster, who also gave Emile the cold shoulder.
Emile quickly realised why the pair had reacted this way towards him and was worried that details of his past may emerge. And when the first part of Dickens' final (uncompleted) novel came out, Emile realised that in 'Edwin Drood' Dickens was telling the tale of his and Augusta's early life (and crimes). This worried him for he did not know how far Dickens would go, so he decided that the novel had to be stopped before completion. There was only one way to do that.
Dickens was at this time seriously unwell but Emile could not risk some natural causes happening to him before 'Drood' was completed, so he decided to take his own action.
Even though 'The Mystery of Charles Dickens' is, I imagine, written as fiction, events up to the time of Emile's London visit are all historically correct, with dialogue added to support the story. But suddenly the tale takes on a conspiracy theory aspect. Emile's actions from that point on are very definitely open to debate but the long and short of it is that Dickens dies before 'Drood' is completed and Emile escapes being exposed for any earlier crimes. The fact that he dies on board ship on his return to Genoa is incidental for the damage is done by then, with Emile's actions being carefully documented.
Because of being a Dickens fanatic, the fact that the majority of the detail is correct and that the book does make for enjoyable reading, even thought the ending is open to serious debate (perhaps it is written merely as a hypothesis), I considered it worthy of four stars. But equally, if one was to think that the ending was told in a serious vein, it could well have been two stars!
August 17, 2018
This book was recommended by a facebook friend to me and I really liked it. Dickens involed in mesmeric activities on Augusta de la Rue revealing a very dark and tragic story that finally leads to the writing of his final book 'The Mystery of Edwin Drook'. What is behind her shady husband Emile de la Rue and why didn't she marry the other guy she was in love with and alredy sworn to? Who is the mysterious figure in yellow she sees when in trance? The storytelling was very well paced and kept you pinned to the book. I also liked the background information you got on Dickens biography. His character in this novel and his relationsship to his wife and John Forster was very well formed in my opinion. You also learned a lot on John Forster himself. There were also captivating hints to Dickens reading performances. So the author wants to know that Dickens didn't pronounce the Pickwicks correctly but came up with other versions like Picnics and so on! Extremely interesting theory in the end why Dickens had such a quick ending and what he really died of. A clear recommendation when your a Dickens fan or even when you loath him!
January 18, 2014
When Charles Dickens died in June 1870, he was (literally) in the middle of writing a mystery entitled "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". Since then, there is a small industry of authors completing the oeuvre. This book belongs to that genre and provides yet another excellent completion. The author, clearly, did his homework. The person of Dickens is presented in a manner appealing not only to Dickens' buffs but to the general audience as well. Additional elements include exorcisms, hypnosis, mesmerism and references to beginnings of psychoanalysis. Significant part of the book is set in Genova in Italy, with its palaces. This somewhat exotic locale adds to the pleasure of riding. In short, 21st century audience will find many things to like in that book.
June 10, 2022
Repetitive and cheesy.
August 19, 2014
I don't know how factual any of this is, but it's a real page turner. I stayed up half the night to finish it. Thought it was a very good read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews