Phoebe Hogg: A Life In The Shadows

The Hampstead Case, Mary Pearcey, and the price of respectability

In 1890 London, Phoebe Hogg is a young wife and mother trying to survive the soot, the rent, and a marriage that offers little safety. Then she vanishes—and her name is swallowed by a scandal the city can’t stop consuming.

At the centre stands Mary Pearcey: the “other woman,” a figure the newspapers are eager to turn into a monster. A pram, a jealous narrative, and a courtroom hungry for certainty propel the case toward a verdict that satisfies the public… but leaves haunting questions behind.

Phoebe Hogg: A Life in the Shadows retells the Hampstead case through the woman history forgot—unearthing the cost of respectability, the violence of silence, and the brutal machinery that transforms private tragedy into public spectacle.