One hot summer

London, 1858. Noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. Ashton reveals that thanks to significant, if unrecognized, turning points the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence. She mines Victorian letters and gossip, diaries, court records, newspapers, and other contemporary sources to uncover historically crucial moments in the lives of three protagonists: Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli. Invisible threads of connection among Londoners at every social level in 1858 bring the celebrated city and its citizens vibrantly to life.