The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens
Publisher,ICON BOOKS
Publication Date,
Format, Hardcover
Weight,
No. of Pages, 288
Think you already know the story of Charles Dickens' life? Think again.
Almost everything you're familiar with was first mentioned in an authorised biography written by Dickens' close friend John Forster 150 years ago. It's the version of events that Dickens himself chose to make public, and newly accessible archives reveal that it's crammed with gaps, inconsistencies, and outright lies.
There's the sister whose existence Dickens kept secret and the Jewish relations whose faith he strove to conceal. There's plagiarism, fraud, and suicide.
And that's only for starters.
Helena Kelly, author of the acclaimed Jane Austen, the Secret Radical, retells Dickens' story from his childhood to his deathbed, uncovers the truths he tried to keep hidden, and offers a fresh – and deeply troubling – perspective on the man who remains one of Britain's best-known novelists.
You won't be able to look at him – or his work – in the same way again.
Praise for Jane Austen, the Secret Radical:
"Bracing. Plausible and vivid."– "The Atlantic"
"Jane Austen, The Secret Radical is wonderful; a revelation. It's difficult to stand out from the crowd when writing about such an influential figure, but Helena Kelly has certainly achieved that with this smart, knowing, perceptive book."–Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire
"A fresh take on the life and work of the beloved writer Jane Austen. Reveals the subversive rebel soul behind such towering classics as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park."– "Elle"
"A thoroughly engaging read." – The Times Literary Supplement
"An important revisionary work. Helena Kelly provokes."– "The New York Times"
"Amply shows her deep research. She exposes a depth beyond what at first may seem to be silly characters. A fine-grained study that shows us how to read between the lines to discover the remarkable woman who helped transform the novel from trash to an absolute art form." – Kirkus Reviews
"Ambitious. Illuminating, provocative. Kelly offers a salutary argument for reading Austen's novels with the serious attentiveness they invite and deserve."– "The Spectator"
"Do we read Jane Austen's novels as she intended? In this riveting literary-biographical study, the answer is a resounding no. An interpretive coup that is dazzling and dizzying . . . You won't read Austen the same way again."– "The New Yorker"
"Essential. What this radical re-reading of the novels does so brilliantly is to exhort us all to chuck out the chintz, and the teacups, and all the traditional romantic notions about Austen's work that have been fed to us for so long."– "The Bookseller (London)"
"Helena Kelly makes the case for Austen as an author steeped in the fear of war and revolution. Meticulously researched. Kelly shows us that the novels were about nothing more or less than the burning political questions of the day. A sublime piece of literary detective work that shows us once and for all how to be precisely the sort of reader that Austen deserves."– "The Guardian (London)"
"Kelly argues passionately and engagingly. Her critical method is . . . generating meaning from the smallest details of the novels."– "The Washington Post"
