{"product_id":"charles-dickens-a-life","title":"Charles Dickens A Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCharles Dickens \u003c\/i\u003eis the acclaimed definitive biography by bestselling author Claire Tomalin \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCharles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonicly hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker and traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all a great novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally in the English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the age of twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by his affectionate but feckless parents. From these unpromising beginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights, entirely through his own efforts. When he died, the world mourned, and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey.Yet the brilliance concealed a divided character: a republican, he disliked America; sentimental about the family in his writings, he took up passionately with a young actress; usually generous, he cut off his impecunious children. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eSamuel Pepys\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCharles Dickens: A Life\u003c\/i\u003e paints an unforgettable portrait of Dickens, capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius. If you loved \u003ci\u003eGreat Expectations, Oliver Twist \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eA Christmas Carol\u003c\/i\u003e, this book is invaluable reading.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''By far the most humane and imaginatively sympathetic account yet for the general reader'' Amanda Craig, New Statesman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57318567739774,"sku":"NW9780141036939","price":12.84,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780141036939.jpg?v=1778653846","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/charles-dickens-a-life","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}