Catherine
by William Makepeace Thackeray
- First published
- 1908
- Reading level
- Plain English
- Price
- Free
About the book
"Catherine: A Story" by William Makepeace Thackeray is a novel serialized between 1839 and 1840. Written as a deliberate critique of popular crime fiction that romanticized criminals, Thackeray based his story on Catherine Hayes, a real eighteenth-century woman executed for murdering her husband. His goal was to portray criminals as utterly vile and unredeemable. Yet despite his intentions, Thackeray developed an unexpected sympathy for his heroine, and the novel's rogues emerged as oddly appealing—a result the author considered a failure.
- Biographical fiction
- Executions and executioners
- Women murderers
- Hayes, Catharine Hall, 1690-1726
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #1969. Catherine on Wikipedia.
