Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, England. He was the second of eight children. His father always had problems with money. When Charles was 12 years old, his father went to prison because he was in debt. Charles had to leave school to help his family. He got a job putting labels on bottles of shoe polish in a dirty, old factory. Charles Dickens never forgot his difficult childhood.
Many of his stories and books were about poor people and their problems.Later, Charles went back to school for two more years. He left school when he was 15 years old to become a newspaper reporter. In 1836, he began to write the Pickwick Papers. It was published as a series and was a huge success. By age 24, Dickens was a famous writer in both Great Britain and the United States.
Many people bought his books, but they also paid to hear him read his stories aloud. Because there was no radio or television, people liked to hear famous writers read in public. Dickens read his work like he was acting in a play. He went on very successful reading tours and earned a lot of money.
Dickens was meticulous. Everything had to be just right. When he worked at home, everything had to be in its place. He worked at a desk by a window that always had a vase of flowers and the same ornaments on it. He wrote 2,000 words a day and he required complete quiet while he wrote. He divided his page into three parts, and on each side he had notes in different colors. The main writing was in the middle, the story notes were in the right margin, and the chapter notes were in the left margin. He also cared a lot about his appearance. Dickens had many mirrors in his home. He combed his hair very often, even at dinner parties! He wore showy clothes, such as red velvet jackets, and he always had many rings on his fingers. He usually looked overdressed.
Dickens was superstitious. He thought that Fridays were lucky, and he touched certain things three times for luck. He always slept with his bed in a north-south position. When he spoke in public, he didn’t want anyone to sit behind him. Everything around him had to be red, including the table and carpet.
Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1836. They did not get along very well, and after 16 years of marriage they separated. Charles and Catherine had 10 children. After the separation, the younger children lived with Charles. Catherine’s sister, Georgina, moved in with them and helped Charles manage the house.
Dickens always worked hard. When he was home, he followed a daily routine. He got up at seven o’clock, had breakfast at eight, and then worked until two in the afternoon. After that, he had a small lunch and worked or rode his horse until five o’clock. Then he had supper. After supper he wrote again or went to the theater. He went to bed at midnight.
Dickens liked to make money. Because of his difficult childhood, he was afraid to be poor. In 1867, he began a long reading tour. He traveled throughout Europe and the United States. The trip was very tiring, and he became ill. Two years after he returned home, he died at the age of 58.
Charles Dickens wrote powerful and honest stories about the lives of poor people. The government even passed laws to stop some of the horrible things he wrote about in his books. Books like David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol were popular when Dickens wrote them, and they are still popular today.
