Charles Dickens was born in England, in 1812, the second of eight children of a debt-ridden government clerk. Because his family had handled their money poorly, young Charles was sent to work in a London factory at the age of ten. This experience upset him so greatly and left such an impression on him that he later created poor, suffering people as the heroes of many of his novels and cruel, selfish rich ones as the villains.
An unexpected, small legacy permitted Charles to break free of the slave factory and return to school. He became a newspaper reporter-a job which helped him to observe people and to create scenes that live in his readers’ memories.
With the appearance of The Pickwick Papers in 1836 and 1837, Charles Dickens, at age 24, became the most popular novelist in England. This popularity increased with the publication of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities.
Dickens had a keen interest in politics and in improving social conditions. He used this interest to weave the exciting characters and events in France and in England that led up to the French Revolution in his historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
Much of Charles Dickens’ life was spent writing, editing, touring to read his novel, and promoting many charities to help the poor. He was active in all this work until his death in 1870.
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