Lost Expectations

Did you know that the woman who may have inspired Charles Dickes' creation of Miss Haversham was a real person who lived in colonial Australia?

Everyone has heard of Charles Dickens? memorable novel Great Expectations. In it he created a character who became the well-known and enduring figure of English literature, Miss Haversham. It is generally accepted that the novel?s Miss Haversham was pivotal to its inspiration. However, there was a real Miss Haversham - her name was Eliza Emily Donnithorne and this book is her story. It is the story of a wealthy, aristocratic and privileged family whose heiress daughter was to become a jilted bride. She lived in self-imposed exile in a locked and shuttered mansion in Colonial Sydney. Eliza?s unlikely and tragic fate was to inspire Charles Dickens? Miss Haversham character for his classic novel.