I, Hogarth

Hogarth's epoch-defining paintings and engravings, such as Gin Lane and The Rake's Progress, are renowned. He was London's painter par excellence, and supplies the most enduring vision of the eighteenth century's ebullience, enjoyments and social iniquities. From his lifelong marriage to Jane Thornhill, his inability to have children, his time as one of England's best portrait painters, his old age and unfortunate dip into politics, and ultimately his death, I, Hogarth is the artist's life through his very own eyes.

Recommended for readers of Peter Ackroyd and Hilary Mantel, this novel charts Hogarth's personal story in four parts carefully blending the facts of his life with fiction, beginning with a childhood spent in a debtor's prison and ending with his death in the arms of his wife.

“Rich and persuasiveGritty, bawdy and funnyDean paints with words as Hogarth did with his brush”

'If the BBC hasn't already optioned this, it should get a move on: Hogarth's life, as Dean portrays it, is an educational but sexily pleasurable costume drama waiting to happen.' Publishers Weekly 'Rich and persuasive. Gritty, bawdy and funny, Dean paints with words as Hogarth did with his brush.'

• The New York Times Book Review *

Michael Dean studied history at Worcester College, Oxford and has a Masters in Applied Linguistics from Edinburgh University. He is the author of a novel, Thorn, and Chomsky: A Beginner's Guide. He lives in Colchester.

Hogarth's epoch-defining paintings and engravings, such as Gin Lane and The Rake's Progress, remain enormously popular. He was London's painter par excellence, and supplies the most enduring vision of the Eighteenth Century's ebullience, enjoyments and social iniquities...From a childhood spent in a debtor's prison to his death in the arms of his wife, I, Hogarth follows the life of the painter William Hogarth as he makes a name for himself and as he fights for artists with his Copyright Act. Through his lifelong marriage to Jane Thornhill, his inability to have children, his time as one of England's best portrait painters, his old age and unfortunate dip into politics, and ultimately his death, I, Hogarth reimagines the artist's dramatic life...Michael Dean blends Hogarth's life and work into one rich narrative in such a way that Hogarth lives what he paints. Dean gives us William Hogarth's life story from poverty to enduring fame...

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