Love and Dirt: The Marriage of Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick by Diane Atkinson
Arthur Munby, barrister and published poet, met Hannah Cullwick, Shropshire scullery maid, on London's Oxford Street in 1854. They had in common a sexual obsession: Munby adored watching Hannah 'in her dirt' and she responded to him with a literally slavish devotion. Amply documented in their letters and diaries, this is the compelling tale of a clandestine relationship that was to last for over fifty years.
'Shadowy figures at the edge of Victorian life, they might almost have stepped out of a Dickens plot' Claire Tomalin, Evening Standard
'Arthur and Hannah have been lucky with their biographer...Diane Atkinson has a generous appreciation of all the nuances and paradoxes of their bizarre relationship' Mail on Sunday
'In the letters and diaries of Hannah Cullwick and Arthur Munby, Diane Atkinson has discovered a gem of a story...Love & Dirt successfully presents an important historical document in a highly readable, accessible form...a fascinating insight into aspects of Victorian sexuality' Sunday Independent