A Christmas Carol

The cheerful poverty of the Cratchit family in A Christmas Carol, is a sure-fire tear-jerker. At one public reading by Dickens in Boston, there were “so many pocket handkerchiefs it looked as if a snowstorm had gotten into the hall” * Sunday Express *
It has it all: a spooky ghost story, a heartwarming redemption and a great plot with a satisfyingly happy ending * The Times *
A story which, perhaps more than any other, sums up the spirit of the British Christmas * Sunday Telegraph *
One of the great achievements of British culture – D.J. Taylor
But that story endures and retains the power to move us because it speaks to the human heart, and gives us hope when hope is fading – Tony Parsons * Mirror *
A little masterpiece…irresistible * Sunday Express *
After 150 years still have the power to fascinate readers * Contemporary Review *
Beautifully written and this re-designed cover is stunning * Devon Life *

Charles Dickens was born in Hampshire on February 7, 1812. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office, who was well paid but often ended up in financial troubles. When Dickens was twelve years old he was send to work in a shoe polish factory because his family had been taken to the debtors’ prison. Fagin is named after a boy Dickens disliked at the factory. His career as a writer of fiction started in 1833 when his short stories and essays began to appear in periodicals. The Pickwick Papers, his first commercial success, was published in 1836. In the same year he married the daughter of his friend George Hogarth, Catherine Hogarth. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837 while The Pickwick Papers was still running. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. He separated from his wife in 1858. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870, leaving his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

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