Charles Dickens

by Grahame Smith

Dickens's literary genius has traditionally been regarded as a creative impulse developed in private. Taking a fresh approach, Grahame Smith draws on a wealth of material to reveal how Dickens's potential as a writer was realised through a highly practical process of literary production. Through analysis of Dickens's struggles with publishers and his response to the expectations of his vast readership and the demands of serialization, we see that Dickens's achievement is in fact the result of close interaction between a writer and his market.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?