A major biography of Emma Darwin of whom the author writes: 'Darwin's debt to Emma can never be fully estimated. Without her he might have been a clever man who yet achieved nothing'

Much has been written about Charles Darwin but this is the first biography of his strong, intelligent wife. Emma Wedgwood, granddaughter of the famous Josiah, married Charles Darwin in 1839, three years after he returned from his extraordinary voyage on the Beagle. Their life together was intellectually exciting though overshadowed by personal tragedy. Edna Healey has discovered new, and hitherto unpublished, material and has had the full support of the Darwin family in writing this major biography.

Emma...emerges as a warmly three-dimensional woman in this well-researched life