Description
About the Author
Jenny Hartley is Professor of English Literature at Roehampton University. She is the author of two books on British women's writing from the Second World War, and The Reading Groups Book, a pioneering survey of reading groups. Her most recent book, Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women, published by Methuen in 2008, was picked Guardian 'Book of the Week' and described as 'brilliant' by Claire Tomalin. For the last ten years she has been a leading member of the Prison Reading Groups project.
Reviews
Glorious. This is a book for which readers have been waiting for a very long time. It takes you directly, in Dickens's own words, and with incomparable vividness, into his extraordinary life and mind. The notes and editorial matter deftly paint in the background to provide a detailed and constantly astonishing portrait of one of the most interesting men who ever lived. * Simon Callow *
Among the dozens of Dickens publications connected with the bicentenary of the author's birth ... it is hard to imagine one more necessary than this * Times Literary Supplement *
glorious letters reflecting every facet of Dickens's life; should not be missed * Sunday Times *
This is Dickens by Dickens. Whatever comes out in this bicentenary year, do not miss it. * The Sunday Times *
(Hartley's) selection is a miracle of compression and editorial tact * New Statesman *
Dickens lovers will all be grateful to Hartley for her skill and judgement. * Literary Review *
Edited with unobtrusive intelligence and insight by Jenny Hartley * The Independent *
a marvellous volume * The Scotsman *
It's a thrilling, surprisingly fresh book. * The Evening Standard *
An absolute gem ... reads better than any actual novel Dickens ever wrote ... Hartley would please a great many readers by producing a second volume from the same dragon-hoard ... A typically classy Oxford affair * Open Letters *
This is the book we have all been waiting for ... Every reader has his or her favourite aspect of Dickens, and may miss a particular letter or letters - I am no exception. But I do not think anyone could have made a more balanced selection from the embrarrassment of riches in his letters, or justified her choices more persuasively. We are all in Professor Hartley's debt for her magnificent edition. * Dickens Quarterly *
The 450 [letters] included in The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens, edited by Jenny Hartley, are more revealing and more intimate than any biography. * Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books *
Book Information
ISBN 9780199591411
Author Jenny Hartley
Format Hardback
Page Count 496
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 162mm * 39mm