Why did Stephen love this book?
I saw this in a charity shop. My partner and I had been watching a number of Dickens adaptions, and my interest was piqued. Then I put it back, uncertain. Then I picked it up again because I realised I did want to know more about Charles Dickens.
But the book turned out to be about much more than that cherished author; it’s about the relationship between personal psychological pain and the brilliance of creativity. It theorises that, without his anguished childhood, Dickens would not have been so brilliant an author. This book speaks to everyone who wishes to tell tales, me included.
2 authors picked The Mystery of Charles Dickens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
A Book of the Year in The Times & Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Spectator, Irish Times and TLS.
'Superb' Daily Mail, 'Book of the Week'
'Brilliant' The Times, 'Book of the Week'
'[A] vivid, detailed account' Guardian, 'Book of the Week'
'Hugely enjoyable' Daily Telegraph
'Fascinating' Spectator
Charles Dickens was a superb public performer, a great orator and one of the most famous of the Eminent Victorians. Slight of build, with a frenzied, hyper-energetic personality, Dickens looked much older than his fifty-eight years when he died. Although he specified an unpretentious funeral, it was inevitable that crowds flocked to his…