7 h 43 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Desire, betrayal, murder: what draws Catherine toward the darkest act of all?
In Catherine, William Makepeace Thackeray brings desire and betrayal into a dark tale set in Georgian England. At its centre is a woman driven to murder. The stakes are stark: this is a story in which longing and treachery lead toward a deadly act.
The book brings humour and satire together with mystery and crime. That pairing offers a sharp contrast to its grim subject. Catherine invites you into a tale where a woman's desires matter, betrayal cuts deep, and murder casts its shadow over the story.
What you’ll discover
- Desire with dark consequences Follow a tale that places longing beside the threat of murder.
- Betrayal at the heart Explore a story whose darkness draws on desire and betrayal.
- A woman at its centre Meet Catherine, the central woman in Thackeray's dark tale of crime.
- Humour beside the grim Discover the contrast between the book's satirical vein and its deadly subject.
- A Georgian setting Step into Georgian England for a tale of desire, betrayal, and murder.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy a dark comedy of crime, a savage eye for Georgian manners, and a narrator who teases his audience. It suits fans of Thackeray, Dickens, Newgate stories and true crime history.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Recruiting Party Reaches the Bugle Inn
- Catherine Hall Catches the Count's Eye
- The Count Tires of His Mistress
- Poison, Theft and a Flight by Night
- Cat Becomes Mrs. Hayes
- Brock, Macshane and the Ransom of John Hayes
- Seven Years and a Wasted Boy
- Life on the Tyburn Road
- A Marriage Turns Murderous
- A Moral Told Backward
Who’s who
- Catherine HallA vain, pretty barmaid from a country inn who wants to be a fine lady and will do nearly anything to rise.
- Count Gustavus Adolphus von GalgensteinA vain Bavarian officer in English service who treats women as playthings and cares only for his own comfort and rank.
- Peter BrockAn old soldier and cheerful rogue who lives by tricks and theft, later calling himself Captain Wood or Doctor Wood.
- John HayesA pale, stingy carpenter who loves Catherine greedily, marries her, and grows into a frightened money lender.
- Tom BillingsCatherine's wild son by the Count, a fighter and drinker who dreams of a noble father and a coach.
- Ensign Timothy MacshaneA tall, boastful Irish soldier who follows Brock and treats robbery as honorable war.
- Mrs. ScoreThe sharp, mean landlady of the Bugle Inn who respects only success and throws out her niece when she falls.
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- Audiobook
- 7 h 43 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Catherine
by William Makepeace Thackeray · 1839
A barmaid at a Warwickshire inn rides off with a Bavarian count, and her choices lead toward a London murder.
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In short
Catherine is a short novel by William Thackeray, first published in 1839 and 1840 under the comic name Ikey Solomons. It retells a real crime from the Newgate Calendar, the old record of London's criminals.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Recruiting Party Reaches the Bugle Inn
The story opens in the autumn of 1705, while England is at war with France. Captain Count Gustavus Adolphus Maximilian von Galgenstein, a young Bavarian serving in the English army, stops at a small Warwickshire inn with his corporal, Peter Brock. They are recruiting men for Lord Cutts's regiment, and they need fresh soldiers.
Brock is a coarse, cheerful old soldier of about fifty-seven, raised by army camp followers and loyal to nothing but drink and profit. He is a clever talker. He sends the stable boy to walk the two black horses about the village green, because the sight draws a crowd. Then he gives the horses grand names in front of the parson, so that the parson's two small sons can ride them.
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What is Catherine by Thackeray about?
It follows Catherine Hall, a barmaid who runs off with a Bavarian count in 1705 and is drawn through betrayal and marriage toward a violent crime in London. It is based on a real case recorded in the Newgate Calendar.
Is Catherine based on a true story?
Yes. Thackeray took the plot from the real case of Catherine Hayes, found in the Newgate Calendar of criminals. He changed and invented many details, but the central crime in 1726 comes from the record.
Why did Thackeray write Catherine?
He wrote it as a satire of crime novels such as those by Ainsworth and Dickens that made thieves attractive. He wanted rogues who were only rogues, so readers would feel disgust rather than sympathy.
The author
William Makepeace Thackeray
1811–1863 · English Victorian novelist
William Makepeace Thackeray was a British novelist born in Calcutta, India, in 1811. He moved to England as a child and later lived in London. He wrote Catherine in 1839–1840, Barry Lyndon in 1844, Vanity Fair in 1847–1848, and The Rose and the Ring in 1855. He died in London in 1863.
More by William Makepeace Thackeray
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