Pickwick Papers

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.

"Dickens was one of the greatest writers of English...unforgettable characters. I was lying in hospital one time and I thought I'd never laugh again but this book changed that" -- Simon Callow "My father, who left school at 15, was a Dickens enthusiast, and encouraged me to read his books when I was a boy. My favourite was The Pickwick Papers and every Christmas Eve, for several years, I used to reread the chapters about Christmas at Dingley Dell as a ritualistic preparation for the eagerly awaited holiday" -- David Lodge Guardian "Dickens writes as though he were talking to us after dinner, in turns funny, bitter, eloquent, and sad" -- John Mortimer Daily Mail "If I must choose only one Dickens then it's his first novel. It's wonderfully funny, kind and good-natured - just like dear Mr Pickwick himself" -- Edwina Currie "I was instantly swept up in Dickens' exploding world of eccentrics and grotesques, at the heart of which a hige affection for mankind" -- Simon Callow Good Housekeeping