Charles Dickens

(1812-1870) Charles Dickens was the son of a navy clerk who spent time in debtor's prison, while Charles had to work in a blacking factory. He was only 12. By 1835, Charles was a reporter for the Morning Chronicle. Charles became successful after publishing his Pickwick Papers in 1836. In 1858, Charles became separated from his wife Catherine. It was during this year that the author began to give public readings in England and also in the United States, which he visited a number of times. His major works: American Notes, Barnaby Rudge, Bleak House, A Christmas Carol, Cricket on the Hearth, David Copperfield, Dombey and Son, Great Expectations, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (incomplete), Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiousity Shop, Oliver Twist, Our Mutual Friend, The Pickwick Papers, Sketches by Boz, A Tale of Two Cities.