Description
A novel in which Dickens launches a ferocious onslaught against England and English society. He draws on the memory of his father in his depiction of the Marshalsea debtors prison and there is also the story of the love between an older man and a younger woman.
About the Author
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. 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. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Reviews
They don't write them like this any more. A magnificent brooding evocation of London in the middle of the 19th century, disfigured by a pitiless class system, murderous capitalism and a religion that sinks the heart. No-one, not even the most humane and idealistic, is able to escape the clutches of one or other of these evils. All are tainted. That such a sombre novel is also able to be supremely comic might seem a mystery, but isn't: it is laughter that gives us the courage to look into the abyss. -- Howard Jacobson * Kirkus UK *
Though Little Dorrit is one of Dickens's less well-known works, it has all his hallmarks * Sunday Telegraph *
Book Information
ISBN 9781857151114
Author Charles Dickens
Format Hardback
Page Count 836
Imprint Everyman's Library
Publisher Everyman
Weight(grams) 838g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 135mm * 45mm