Wendy Parkins: The Defiance of Frances Dickinson

Author Wendy Parkins was born in Sydney, studying at the University of Sydney, she began her academic career in Perth before moving through universities in New Zealand and the UK, where she was Professor of Victorian Literature at the University of Kent.

It’s there, Parkins discovered Frances story as she became interested in 19th-century women writers who had fallen into obscurity.

‘The Defiance of Frances Dickinson‘ is the story of gaslighting, control and one woman’s fight, revealing the truth behind one of the most sensational divorce trials of the nineteenth century.

“Set in 1838, England: When eighteen-year-old heiress Frances Dickinson impulsively marries Lieutenant John Geils, she soon discovers there is much about her husband she did not know. A cruel and violent man, John keeps Frances in isolation on his family’s estate in Scotland, while spending her fortune and preying upon their maids.

Frances yearns to break free from her marriage but the law is not on her side. Only when John’s abuse escalates can she set in motion a daring plan to secure her freedom.”

Author, Wendy Parkins joins Danae Gibson on Artbeat to discuss the release of her latest novel, ‘The Defiance of Frances Dickinson‘.

(Photo by: Affirm Press)