{"product_id":"the-mystery-of-charles-dickens-9780062954954","title":"The Mystery of Charles Dickens","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA lively and insightful biographical celebration of the imaginative genius of Charles Dickens, published in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of his death.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharles Dickens was a superb public performer, a great orator and one of the most famous of the Eminent Victorians. Slight of build, with a frenzied, hyper-energetic personality, Dickens looked much older than his fifty-eight years when he died--an occasion marked by a crowded funeral at Westminster Abbey, despite his waking wishes for a small affair. Experiencing the worst and best of life during the Victorian Age, Dickens was not merely the conduit through whom some of the most beloved characters in literature came into the world. He was one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFilled with the twists, pathos, and unusual characters that sprang from this novelist's extraordinary imagination, \u003cem\u003eThe Mystery of Charles Dickens\u003c\/em\u003e looks back from the legendary writer's death to recall the key events in his life. In doing so, he seeks to understand Dickens' creative genius and enduring popularity. Following his life from cradle to grave, it becomes clear that Dickens's fiction drew from his life--a fact he acknowledged. Like Oliver Twist, Dickens suffered a wretched childhood, then grew up to become not only a respectable gentleman but an artist of prodigious popularity. Dickens knew firsthand the poverty and pain his characters endured, including the scandal of a failed marriage. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGoing beyond standard narrative biography, A. N. Wilson brilliantly revisits the wellspring of Dickens's vast and wild imagination, to reveal at long last why his novels captured the hearts of nineteenth century readers--and why they continue to resonate today. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Mystery of Charles Dickens\u003c\/em\u003e is illustrated with 30 black-and-white images.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWilson, A. N.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eA. N. Wilson grew up in Staffordshire, England, and was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist. He lives in North London.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50512137847058,"sku":"9780062954954","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_40fb5761-e63f-4501-b931-f9f6148d79b3.jpg?v=1730949516","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-mystery-of-charles-dickens-9780062954954","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}