Charles Dickens was the first pop-culture celebrity. In this internet age, with TMZ and Twitter feeds, the assertion that an author commanded the kind of status we lavish on, say, Jennifer Lawrence might sound absurd, but when the British writer and actor toured the U.
His companions at the track stand off to the side while more and more people swarm around, reaching over each other to just to touch him. He sputters out dozens of thank yous and tries not to look flustered. When he was 45, Dickens met and fell in love with year-old actress Nelly Ternan played in the film by Felicity Jones , who he eventually took on as a mistress-separating from his wife, Catherine Joanna Scanlan , with whom he had 10 children.
Ternan is the youngest of four sisters, actresses all, chaperoned by their mother, also an actress Kristin Scott Thomas, deliberately looking wizened in makeup here. Nelly first meets Dickens while performing a small role in. In one scene, while performing in a London production, she gets heckled for speaking too softly.
Her sisters and her mother, acknowledging Nelly has no future there, condone the romance, as it provides her a means to live comfortably, albeit apart from respectable society. Nelly admiringly welcomes his attention.
Catherine-with whom Dickens never had an exceptional connection-accidentally receives a gift intended for Nelly, and Dickens compels her to deliver it to Nelly herself, resulting in a sad confrontation that hurts both women. The film does suggest to us, however, that Nelly is ultimately afforded a chance at a different, somewhat happier life.
