The History of Henry Esmond is a
historical novelHistorical fiction is a genre in which the plot is set amidst historical events, or more generally, in which the author uses real events but adds a fictional character.-Overview:...
by
William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a
colonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the service of
Queen AnneAnne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England and II of Scotland...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. A typical example of
VictorianVictorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria and corresponds to the Victorian era. It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century.The 19th century saw the novel become the...
historical novels, Thackeray's work of
historical fictionHistorical fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, nominally attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time presented in...
tells its tale against the backdrop of late 17th- and early 18th-century England — specifically, major events surrounding the
English RestorationThe English Restoration, often shortened to the Restoration, began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Commonwealth of England that followed the English Civil War...
— and utilizes characters both real (but dramatized) and imagined.
Using sporadically the
firstFirst-person narrative is a narrative mode in which a story is narrated by only one character at a time, who explicitly refers to him- or herself using words and phrases involving "I" and/or "we"...
and third persons, Henry Esmond relates his own history in
memoirAs a literary genre, a memoir , forms a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable in modern parlance. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir, as listed here...
fashion.
The History of Henry Esmond is a
historical novelHistorical fiction is a genre in which the plot is set amidst historical events, or more generally, in which the author uses real events but adds a fictional character.-Overview:...
by
William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a
colonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the service of
Queen AnneAnne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England and II of Scotland...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. A typical example of
VictorianVictorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria and corresponds to the Victorian era. It forms a link and transition between the writers of the romantic period and the very different literature of the 20th century.The 19th century saw the novel become the...
historical novels, Thackeray's work of
historical fictionHistorical fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, nominally attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time presented in...
tells its tale against the backdrop of late 17th- and early 18th-century England — specifically, major events surrounding the
English RestorationThe English Restoration, often shortened to the Restoration, began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Commonwealth of England that followed the English Civil War...
— and utilizes characters both real (but dramatized) and imagined.
Using sporadically the
firstFirst-person narrative is a narrative mode in which a story is narrated by only one character at a time, who explicitly refers to him- or herself using words and phrases involving "I" and/or "we"...
and third persons, Henry Esmond relates his own history in
memoirAs a literary genre, a memoir , forms a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable in modern parlance. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir, as listed here...
fashion. The novel opens on Henry as a boy — the supposedly illegitimate (and eventually orphaned) son of George, the third
ViscountA viscount is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
Castlewood, and cousin of the
JacobiteJacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
fourth viscount, Francis, and his wife, the Lady Castlewood. These successors to the Castlewood estate and peerage, following the death of Henry's father, foster the boy, and he remains with them throughout his youth and early adulthood. As he comes of age he joins the unsuccessful campaign to restore
James Francis Edward StuartPrince James, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II and VII...
to the English throne, but eventually comes to accept the Protestant future of England. He
falls in love with his cousinA cousin couple is a pair of cousins who are involved in a romantic or sexual relationship. In some jurisdictions and cultures, such marriages are legal, accepted, or even actively encouraged, while in others cousin-cousin relationships are regarded as incest and marriages are prohibited...
(daughter of his patron, Castlewood), Beatrix, but eventually marries his foster-mother (also his cousin, and Beatrix's mother), Rachel, Lady Castlewood. The novel closes on the couple's emigration to
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
in 1718.
In a private critique of the work, in a letter to a friend, novelist
George EliotMary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist. She was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
opined that it was “the most uncomfortable book you can imagine...the hero is in love with the daughter all through the book, and marries the
mother at the end." However, American publisher and novelist
James Thomas FieldsJames Thomas Fields was an American publisher and author.-Biography:Fields was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was a sea captain and died before Fields was three. At the age of 14, Fields took a job at the Old Corner Bookstore in Boston...
, in his autobiographical
Yesterdays with Authors, said of the book, and of his friend Thackeray:
To my thinking, it is a marvel in literature, and I have read it oftener than any of the other works. Perhaps the reason of my partiality lies somewhat in this little incident. One day, in the snowy winter of 1852, I met Thackeray sturdily ploughing his way down Beacon StreetBeacon Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts and several of its western suburbs. Beacon Street in Boston, Brookline, Brighton, and Newton is not to be confused with the Beacon Street in nearby Somerville, or others elsewhere.-Description:...
with a copy of Henry Esmond (the English edition, then just issued) under his arm. Seeing me some way off, he held aloft the volumes and began to shout in great glee. When I came up to him he cried out, "Here is the very best I can do, and I am carrying it to Prescott as a reward of merit for having given me my first dinner in America. I stand by this book, and am willing to leave it, when I go, as my card."
The sequel to this novel was
The Virginians, written in 1857–59. It takes place in both England and America, and details the lives of Esmond's grandsons, brothers George and Henry Warrington.
Although popularized by British architects
George DeveyGeorge Devey was a British architect, born in London, the second son of Frederick and Ann Devey. Devey was educated in London, after leaving school he initially studied art, with an ambition to become a professional artist...
and
Richard Norman ShawRichard Norman Shaw RA , was the most influential British architect from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings....
, the anachronistic "
Queen Anne" design styleThe Queen Anne Style is a furniture and decoration style that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century, manifesting itself in a number of different ways in different countries...
created in the latter part of the 19th century, for both buildings and furniture, won its Victorian nomenclature via readers' enthusiasm for Thackeray's detailed descriptions of that period in
Henry Esmond.
Thackeray was a frequent visitor to
Clevedon CourtClevedon Court is a manor house in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early fourteenth century. It is now owned by the National Trust. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.-History:...
in
ClevedonClevedon is a town in North Somerset, England.The name derives from the Saxon, 'Cleve' meaning Cleave or Cleft and 'don' meaning hill, the town being situated amongst a group of small hills alongside the River Severn estuary...
,
SomersetSomerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west...
; the house was the inspiration for
Castlewood, and he wrote part of the novel there.