According to Queeney (Unabridged)

In 1764, the great Samuel Johnson, irascible genius and the toast of all society, is plagued by ill health and has become jaded with his bickering dependants. Suffering from a bout of melancholy, he accepts an introduction to the table of Henry Thrale, a wealthy Southwark brewer, and his vivacious wife Hester. It is left to Hester's neglected oldest daughter, named after her mother but known as Queeney, to provide her own sharp commentary on the destruction that ensues.