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The Hand of Ethelberta
The Hand of Ethelberta
Nov 27, 2025 8:51 PM

Author:Thomas Hardy,Tim Dolin,Tim Dolin,Tim Dolin,Patricia Ingham

The Hand of Ethelberta

Adventuress and opportunist, Ethelberta reinvents herself to disguise her humble origins, launching a brilliant career as a society poet in London with her family acting incognito as her servants. Turning the male-dominated literary world to her advantage, she happily exploits the attentions of four very different suitors. Will she bestow her hand upon the richest of them, or on the man she loves? Ethelberta Petherwin, alias Berta Chickerel, moves with easy grace between her multiple identities, cleverly managing a tissue of lies to aid her meteoric rise. In The Hand of Ethelberta (1876), Hardy drew on conventions of popular romances, illustrated weeklies, plays, fashion plates and even his wife's diary in this comic story of a woman in control of her destiny.

Reviews

From the international No.1 bestselling author Lesley Pearse, comes Charlie the compulsive page-turner. She has to protect her parents . . . even if they are keeping secrets.

Her family is threatened and only she can save it . . .

—— from the publisher's description

With characters it is impossible not to care about, this is storytelling at its very best

—— Daily Mail

An emotional and moving epic you won't forget in a hurry

—— Woman's Weekly

A heartwarming tale of the triumph of the human spirit

—— Woman and Home

Enchanting

—— Sunday Times

It's easy to get absorbed in this novel...Life is not like this, but would it be such a bad thing if there were a it more magic in the world?

—— Daily Telegraph

Hoffman delivers one of the best plot twists I can remember

—— Observer

Hoffman is a skilled and experienced writer... beautifully constructed

—— Guardian

A strangely provocative, grown-up fairy fable

—— Good Housekeeping

Cuts deeply into the griefs and passions that shape us all and into heartbreaking secrets

—— The Times

Emotionally compelling

—— Psychologies Magazine

Hoffman writes as beautifully as ever

—— Marie Claire

Hoffman knows that good fairytales, like people, are never simple

—— Herald

Beautifully written, mystical and intriguing, this is a story of life, death, love and second chances. Enthralling

—— Woman and Home
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