Jane Welsh Carlyle and Her Victorian World: A Story of Love, Work, Marriage, and Friendship

by Kathy Chamberlain

Hailed by Virginia Woolf as one of the all-time great letter writers, Jane Welsh Carlyle, wife of Victorian literary celebrity Thomas Carlyle, has been much overlooked. In this compelling new biography, Kathy Chamberlain brings Jane out of her husband’s shadow, focusing on Carlyle as a remarkable woman and writer in her own right.Caught between her own literary aspirations and Victorian society’s oppression of women, Jane Welsh Carlyle hoped to move beyond domestic life and become a respected published writer. As she and her husband moved in exclusive London literary circles, mingling with noted authors, poets, and European revolutionaries, Carlyle created and reported to her correspondents on her rich, rewarding life in her Chelsea home―until her husband’s infatuation with a wealthy, imposing aristocratic society hostess threw her life into chaos.Through dedicated research and unparalleled access to Jane Welsh Carlyle’s private correspondence, Kathy Chamberlain presents an elegant portrait of an extraordinary woman writer.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published March 9, 2017

About the author

Kathy Chamberlain is an English writer and biographer. She has lectured on Jane Welsh Carlyle's life at the CUNY Graduate Center and at conferences in the U.S. and UK, and has published numerous essays about Jane Welsh Carlyle and Virginia Woolf, writing reviews for the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.
She served as the Women Writing Women’s Lives steering committee chair for ten years.

Reviews

[Brenda Clough · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed dive into the central few years of Jane Carlyle's life. What a frustrating life Victorian women led -- Jane was clearly capable of achieving great things, but her society didn't encourage it.

[Frrobins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book at my library, and though I had never heard of Jane Welsh Carlyle before, I picked it up because I am interested in writers and the Victorian Era. While I am familiar with people she socialized with and had heard a few mentions of her husband, I knew nothing about Jane. Which ended up being a problem, as this book is geared more toward people who are familiar with Thomas and Jane Carlyle.

Aside from a brief overview at the beginning of the book giving me a bare bones background of the subject, I basically felt as though I had started reading the second volume of Jane's life. Worse, the style of telling biography as a scene of narratives is not something that works for me. While I understand Chamberlain's reasons for doing this, I like my novels to be novels and my biographies to be biographies, and I don't like it when a biography tries to be a novel.

I did find some parts extremely fascinating, such as the struggles of a woman in the Victorian world to find an identity. And the struggle between pen or needle is indeed echoed in Charlotte Bronte's "Shirley", such that I could see why people would have assumed that Currer Bell was Jane Welsh Carlyle. Those bits were islands of interest in a sea of scenes that bored me.

While I was interested in finding out what happened between Jane and her husband and would have liked to have learned more about the plight of women in the Victorian world, those were not enough to keep me interested in reading this. If, like me, you have never heard of Jane Welsh Carlyle I can't say that this would be a great place to start, though I can see the appeal of this book for people who are familiar with her life.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting from moment to moment, but ultimately an unsatisfying whole. This caught my eye at the library because I've always wanted to know more about Jane Carlyle since running across references to her in Virginia Woolf's writings. It turns out that this basically focuses on her life during the 1840s, and in the end I wasn't sure exactly why, as the people and events included didn't really confine themselves to that decade.
Chronology was clearly not important, which made it difficult for someone who didn't already know much about the Carlyles. When you find yourself multiple times having to say things like, "(This was before she helped her find a governess job as discussed in the last chapter.)" or "At the end of this month she would be getting that unwelcome invitation to Somewhere, as we will discuss in chapter X," you know you have a problem, and it seems to me that it would not have been too difficult to avoid that.
She says she wants to challenge the popular image of Jane as an intelligent woman suppressed by marriage to a typical Victorian husband, but she doesn't challenge it much in my view - Carlyle comes across as self-centered, racist, sexist, conservative, and sanctimonious, with his brilliance asserted but not demonstrated. Even though the book is not about him, it would be nice to get some idea of why he's considered so brilliant - but neither their courtship and early years, nor their later years, are within the scope of this book. I'd love to read a real biography of Jane as she seems intelligent and thoughtful and interesting; this was not it.

[Jack Burrows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite not being what I had hoped it would be, I nevertheless enjoyed this book.

I was drawn to Jane for her witty and distinctive Victorian voice and whilst that is not-so present here, it was still a pleasure to learn more about her.

I really like the Victorian period and this book was great for developing and extending my understanding, especially from the perspective of an upper-middle class woman who desired to be more than she was allowed to be.

There was a large focus on the rights and roles of women and it was an interesting study of contrasts between Jane and the rather liberal-minded women in her life. I'd have liked it to be a bit more expansive; the book only focuses on the 1840s, and a greater focus on Jane herself: her feelings, thoughts, emotions and desires.

Overall the novel doesn't probe too deeply into Jane's psyche and instead views her from afar in quite a neutral way. I did also find Chamberlain's writing to be a little weighty and thick in parts. Jane's marriage to Thomas Carlyle could also have used a little more depth: I feel there is so much more to know.

[Michele Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and have meant to review it. I read every night before going to sleep. I can honestly say that I looked forward eagerly to my time with Jane Welsh Carlyle and her world. For me, it was a rich book, full of interest in many ways; woman writer, her circle, the value and customs she lived with, her relationships, the characteristics of her era skillfully woven throughout her experiences. It's a long book, which I was glad about, but that's personal preference. I was, apparently, following a theme but I wasn't conscious of it until the third time it happened. I read three large books in a row about women writers, May Sarton's authorized biography by Margot Peters, this book, and Heather Clark's Red Comet about Sylvia Plath, which I finished about two weeks ago. It's been heaven to sink into and enjoy books so well researched and superbly written by these women authors. Makes me feel better about the world. Kudos, Ms. Chamberlain! Quite an accomplishment.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've known about the friendship between The Carlyle's and The Tennyson's. However, I loved the chapters describing Jane's encounters with Alfred Tennyson.
Charles Dickens friendship was interesting as well.

Historically, a very important read for anyone wanting to discover Mrs. Carlyle in her own words...

[Natalie Lynner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful exploration of the Victorian era. I liked that this book focused on Jane as an adult woman in the 1840s. It was a fascinating snapshot of a middle-class, educated woman in London, which made me both long to be a part of it and thank my lucky stars that I wasn't.

[Jessica]

Got up to Chapter 10. Wasn't in the right mood to finish it. Was delightful. Jumped around a bit too much to make it easy to read.