Hans Christian Andersen's own rags to riches story is the stuff of fairy tales. But, as Jackie Wullschlager shows in her acclaimed biography, the enchanted world Andersen created in his fiction had its roots in a darker reality. Born into an impoverished home, this sensitive,gauche man fought his way to huge literary success, yet he always felt an outsider - lonely, socially awkward and sexually unfulfilled. Exploring Andersen's personal relationships and creativity, Wullschlager presents a superb portrait of one of the greatest and most original Euroean writers.

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Map of Andersen's Europe, c. 1850

Map of Andersen's Denmark, c. 1850

Introduction: Life Stories

The Country 1805-12

z Master Comedy-Player 1812-19

3 The City 1819-22

4 Aladdin at School 1822-7

5 Fantasies 18Z7-31

6 My Time Belongs to the Heart 1831-3

7 Italy 1833-5

8 First Fairy Tales 1835

9 Walking on Knives i836-7

10 Le Porte, C'est Moi! 1837-40

11 I Belong to the World 1840-43

12 Jenny 1843-4

13 Winter's Tales 1844-5

14 The Princes' Poet 1845-6

15 The Shadow 1846-7

16 Lion of London 1847

          HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

17 Between the Wars 1848-51

18 Weimar Revisited 1851-6

19 Dickens 1856-7

20 Experiments I858-9

21 Kiss of the Muse 1860-65

22 Aladdin's Palace of the Present 1865-9

23 So Great a Love of Life 1869-75

Sources

References

Select Bibliograpby

Index