Charles and Emma

"In the summer of 1838, in his rented rooms on Great Marlborough Street, London, Charles Darwin drew a line down the middle of a piece of scrap paper. He had been back in England for almost two years, after a monumental voyage around the world. He was in his late twenties. It was time to decide. Across the top of the left-hand side, he wrote Marry. On the right he wrote Not Marry. And in the middle This is the Question. It was easy for Charles to think of things to write under Not Marry."

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith is a 2009 Young Adult nonfiction book describing the marriage of Charles Darwin and Emma Wedgwood, a devout Christian. Charles was both an agnostic and working on a theory that she regarded as wrong and blasphemous...this is the story of how they made it work anyway, and how Charles's love for Emma shaped his career.

The book was published to coincide with Darwin's 200th birthday and received widespread critical praise.

Other literary couples with the same name include the telepaths in X Men (probably intentional), Charles and Emma Bovary (probably not), and the characters in this ficlet (who knows?).


 * Dating Catwoman: The premise.
 * Dead Little Sister: The death of one of their daughters is described as pushing Charles toward atheism, and Emma in the other direction.
 * Hollywood Atheist: Part of the point of the book is to subvert this with regard to Charles.
 * Kissing Cousins: They were first cousins, in a culture where that was completely normal. The author's amusement is clear.
 * Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Every word of praise  gets is received by the reader as another nail in her coffin.