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Charles Dickens: A Life

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 1,209 ratings · 203 reviews

The tumultuous life of England's greatest novelist, beautifully rendered by unparalleled literary biographer Claire Tomalin.

When Charles Dickens died in 1870, The Times of London successfully campaigned for his burial in Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of England's kings and heroes. Thousands flocked to mourn the best recognized and loved man of nineteenth-cent...more The tumultuous life of England's greatest novelist, beautifully rendered by unparalleled literary biographer Claire Tomalin.

When Charles Dickens died in 1870, The Times of London successfully campaigned for his burial in Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of England's kings and heroes. Thousands flocked to mourn the best recognized and loved man of nineteenth-century England. His books had made them laugh, shown them the squalor and greed of English life, and also the power of personal virtue and the strength of ordinary people. In his last years Dickens drew adoring crowds to his public appearances, had met presidents and princes, and had amassed a fortune.

Like a hero from his novels, Dickens trod a hard path to greatness. Born into a modest middle-class family, his young life was overturned when his profligate father was sent to debtors' prison and Dickens was forced into harsh and humiliating factory work. Yet through these early setbacks he developed his remarkable eye for all that was absurd, tragic, and redemptive in London life. He set out to succeed, and with extraordinary speed and energy made himself into the greatest English novelist of the century.

Years later Dickens's daughter wrote to the author George Bernard Shaw, "If you could make the public understand that my father was not a joyous, jocose gentleman walking about the world with a plum pudding and a bowl of punch, you would greatly oblige me." Seen as the public champion of household harmony, Dickens tore his own life apart, betraying, deceiving, and breaking with friends and family while he pursued an obsessive love affair.

Charles Dickens: A Life gives full measure to Dickens's heroic stature-his huge virtues both as a writer and as a human being- while observing his failings in both respects with an unblinking eye. Renowned literary biographer Claire Tomalin crafts a story worthy of Dickens's own pen, a comedy that turns to tragedy as the very qualities that made him great-his indomitable energy, boldness, imagination, and showmanship-finally destroyed him. The man who emerges is one of extraordinary contradictions, whose vices and virtues were intertwined as surely as his life and his art.(less)

Hardcover, 527 pages

Published October 27th 2011 by The Penguin Press (first published January 1st 2011)

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Nov 26, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh! Now it all makes sense! Now I understand why so many of the characters in Dickens' novels seem so theatrically dramatic. Read Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin and you too can unlock such mysteries as they expertly unfold in this top-notch biography!

After reading so many of his novels I figured it was high time I got to know the man behind the words. Tomalin combines his personal story with just enough historical detail while sprinkling in a compact summary and review of all of his w...more

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Mar 03, 2012 ·Karen· rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mttbr-2012, 19th-century, biography-memoir, non-fiction

Claire Tomalin is a no-nonsense schoolmarm of a biographer, marshalling her facts into order and marching them across the page in seemly double crocodile lines, one two one two. A sort of Joyce Grenfell type, pleasant, but firm - George, don't do that - No, Susan, put Sydney down dear - No, Neville, you can't go home. The effect of this patting and prodding and pummelling into shape is that Dickens' life appears oddly reduced. The Slater biography gives the impression of a man constantly struggl...more Claire Tomalin is a no-nonsense schoolmarm of a biographer, marshalling her facts into order and marching them across the page in seemly double crocodile lines, one two one two. A sort of Joyce Grenfell type, pleasant, but firm - George, don't do that - No, Susan, put Sydney down dear - No, Neville, you can't go home. The effect of this patting and prodding and pummelling into shape is that Dickens' life appears oddly reduced. The Slater biography gives the impression of a man constantly struggling to keep all the plates spinning at the same time, and often in danger of letting them slip, whereas Tomalin has him taking holidays. Slater gives details (perhaps too many for most readers) of exactly how each work was produced, how often he over- or underwrote, how many months ahead of publication he was, all the other articles, letters, speeches he was producing at the same time as his novels and stories, whereas Tomalin even occasionally just says something like he wrote a book over the next year and a half and then took a break.

Slater interprets the works, but when it comes to the man's private life he gives facts and allows readers to draw their own conclusions. Tomalin, again rather like a firm schoolmistress, knows exactly what she thinks of Mr Dickens, and is more than willing to take the readers firmly by the hand and guide them to the 'correct' conclusions, her conclusions, i.e. that he was a rotten husband and could be ruthless and cruel as well as cheerful and wonderful company, and that yes, his Nelly bore him a son, who died. There's even a theory that he may have collapsed at the home he shared with Nelly in Peckham and she had to get him back over to Gad's Hill secretly, by brougham, where he later died. A most singular idea, that is backed only by the evidence of some missing cash from his pocket. It seems to be pure speculation, and as such, you wonder why it sits there. Thanks to my GR friend Troy I was able to read the review at the LRB in which Deborah Friedell also questions the inclusion of this highly speculative alternative death scene; Tomalin's answering letters can be read here.

All in all, I think that Tomalin's assessment is very similar to the one I had already reached after reading the Slater, but I'm certainly glad I read Slater first. I like to have the feeling I've made my own mind up, deceptive as it may be.(less)

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Apr 25, 2013 Anastasia Hobbet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

Having just written a happy review of Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys, I'm feeling a twinge of guilt about my response to this one. But to paraphrase Walter Lippmann, the facts far exceeded my curiosity. This book reads as if Tomalin scuttled along in Dickens' wake from his birth to his death, a particularly intimate secretary, annotating his daily calendar for him. From cover to cover, it's a long list of his activities: eating, drinking, entertaining, fornicating, fuming, buying and sellin...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a terrific read for any fan of Dickens. Tomalin brings Dickens, the man, to life in a way that his other biographers have not, and much of the material here is new to me, although I've read quite a few Dickens biographies. I keep trying to find one that has a happier ending. At least in this version, Dickens does have some happy moments in his life. His amazing many talents and incredible energy are portrayed in this book, explaining why he really was "the inimitable," as he liked to be...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Suzy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. Though it is a thick book (in a curiously old-fashioned looking binding) it was a quick read. I learned a lot about Dickens--one of my favorite writers--and realized that though I have read many of his most famous books, there are still a handful I haven't read (Pickwick Papers and Bleak House, for example). Perhaps he will be the third prolific writer on my to-read-all-works list (following Fitzgerald and Steinbeck). Dickens went to bat for many poor families...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Sidna Bookout rated it 2 of 5 stars

I give up! With this book, I have done two things I never do. I am reading it for a book discussion tomorrow, but I quit! I just can't read any more.

I never go to a book discussion with the book unread, but I have had it with this book. The second thing I never do is to read the other reviews before I write my own, but I did this time. Apparently, I am the only one who did not like it.

The author describes Dickens' life in 417 pages of painfully boring detail. She describes the plot of all of h...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating and comprehensive look at the life of Dickens. We learn how his own childhood, with his father's inability to manage money, which led him and the family to go to debtors' prison, also led a very young Charles Dickens to work in a "blacking factory," which made him a lifelong advocate for children's rights and for a better way to deal with the poor.

It's also easy to see in following Dickens' life how much of the personal became the professional in his writing. As a writer,...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Kimberly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Claire Tomalin knows how to write a biography, that's a fact. If you haven't read Tomalin's Jane Austen and Samuel Pepys biography, I hope you will. Both were excellent. Tomalin's books are well-researched, thoughtful, and she's good at putting all the pieces together. But Charles Dickens A Life was a bit painful and I think it was because frequently Dickens was a monster (Samuel Pepys was no boy scout but I didn't have any expectations that he was). Dickens could also be more generous than anyo...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Ben Dutton rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is a monumental task. To summarise a life – especially a life like Dickens’ – into a 400 page volume. If anybody was up to the task, it would be Claire Tomalin, biographer extraordinaire. Her Charles Dickens: A Life is a rambunctious, whistle-stop tour through the life of one of Britain’s – nay, the world’s – greatest novelists (if not the greatest?). It takes in births, marriages, deaths, affairs, walks, and shines a light into the dirty corners of the great man’s life. His affair with Nelly...more It is a monumental task. To summarise a life – especially a life like Dickens’ – into a 400 page volume. If anybody was up to the task, it would be Claire Tomalin, biographer extraordinaire. Her Charles Dickens: A Life is a rambunctious, whistle-stop tour through the life of one of Britain’s – nay, the world’s – greatest novelists (if not the greatest?). It takes in births, marriages, deaths, affairs, walks, and shines a light into the dirty corners of the great man’s life. His affair with Nelly Ternan, his treatment of his children, the neglect and cruelty to his ex-wife in later years – all is exposed in thrilling, page-turning prose. For those who know nothing of Dickens’s life, this biography is most certainly the place to start.

Here, though, is the biography’s biggest problem: A life such as Dickens’s cannot be adequately summarised in just over 400 pages (417 to be precise). There are numerous moments in this biography where you wish Tomalin would just slow down, take pause, consider the true ramifications of a certain decision, or what such an affair truly meant to Dickens and to those who knew of it. Of course not all knowledge is at hand – Dickens was brutal at times to future biographers, burning letters, demanding correspondence kept by others be destroyed – and he knew in life how to protect his reputation intact. In many respects he was the proto-celebrity, a man whose every aspect of his life needed to be presented to the public in certain deliberate ways to help maintain the myth. If he were alive in the twenty-first century, it is certain Dickens would be employing the greatest PR men in the world: though it is certain his affair would have come out in the tabloid press.

Tomalin, then, has done something very admirable in her biography. She has distilled the essence of the man, laid him bare on the page, and told a cracking true story with deft skill, and with an eye on being fair, but not uncritical, to a man who deserves no less. I am sure Tomalin’s biography will remain the definitive word on the man for at least a decade now, and much read: but as with Dickens, there is always more to know, and I am certain this will not be the last word on the great man.(less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Converse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

I find the life (1812-1870)of the English novelist very interesting. Despite his father's repeated and self-inflicted money problems, which briefly had him working in a factory at age 12, Dickens managed to establish himself as a successful novelist in his 20s. Many of his novels were either published in short segments (about 30 pages) or were serialized in various periodicals he was associated with. His productivity, particularly as a young man when he might have several novels going at once, w...more I find the life (1812-1870)of the English novelist very interesting. Despite his father's repeated and self-inflicted money problems, which briefly had him working in a factory at age 12, Dickens managed to establish himself as a successful novelist in his 20s. Many of his novels were either published in short segments (about 30 pages) or were serialized in various periodicals he was associated with. His productivity, particularly as a young man when he might have several novels going at once, was astonishing. On top of his novel and short story writing, he often was editing a magazine and contributed some non-fiction reporting to it.

Dickens was very concerned about the down and out in Britain. For a decade he administered successfully what we might now call a half-way house for ex-prostitutes, getting a majority of them into better living conditions, often in the British colonies.

Dickens domestic life was messy. After several decades of marriage to, and 10 (!) children with Catherine Hogarth, in 1858 he moved out due to his infatuation with the young actress Ellen Ternan. Much to his surprise, her mother prevented Ellen from immediately becoming his mistress, but they probably had a child together in the 1860s who seems to have died while a toddler. Dickens could be remarkably unforgiving, as numerous publishers, Catherine, and several of his sons who got into debt found out. He cut off completely from those who he felt had wronged him (or perhaps that he had wronged, as in the case of Catherine). His behavior towards his unsuccessful sons does seem a bit inconsistent for someone who was often organizing benefit schemes for the children and widows of dead friends or colleagues; it might be explained by the similarity between several of his sons behavior and that of his father.

During the last decade of his life, Dickens spent much time giving readings from his works. The texts were not identical to the novels or stories, but were scripts derived from the story or from parts of the novels. He seems to have been very good performer.(less)

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Jan 13, 2012 Tig rated it 4 of 5 stars

Balanced, clear, very readable and gave what I imagine is a very accurate picture of the contradictions of Dickens' characer. Without fudging his more unpleasant aspects (he appears to have been a terrible father, for example: partisan, uninterested and burdened)it also stresses his immense warmth and likeability. I would have liked more quotation from his letters and diaries and perhaps slightly less detail about his huge circle of friends and how often he met with/went on holiday with/walked w...more

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Jan 09, 2012 David Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

Claire Tomalin is one of my favourite biographers (her work on Jane Austen, for example, is outstanding) and this may be her best book yet, not least because she conveys so vividly and with such well-researched evidence the complexities and contradictions that made up the life and character of Charles Dickens, and reflects just the right amount of light on the novels where life and story meet.

In particular, she contrasts the genuine sympathy that Dickens felt for suffering humanity (which led hi...more Claire Tomalin is one of my favourite biographers (her work on Jane Austen, for example, is outstanding) and this may be her best book yet, not least because she conveys so vividly and with such well-researched evidence the complexities and contradictions that made up the life and character of Charles Dickens, and reflects just the right amount of light on the novels where life and story meet.

In particular, she contrasts the genuine sympathy that Dickens felt for suffering humanity (which led him to generous acts of individual philanthropy and attention) with the cruel treatment of his wife Catherine, and his dismissive attitude to most of the males among his offspring, whom he considered as feckless as his own parents. Tomalin is illuminating too on Dickens's egocentricity which lies at the centre both of his triumphs (his greatest characters, such as David Copperfield and Pip, carved from his own image; the huge success of his staged readings) and his failings (intolerance of those who would not bend to his will, obsessive acts of passion, revenge and pettiness). We see in Tomalin's book the many shapes and faces of Dickens, but she also helps us make them whole.

She is at her most interesting and forensic in tracking the development and progress of Dickens's long affair with the actress Ellen (Nelly) Ternan. Tomalin also drops tantalising hints about other possible sexual secrets - was Dickens a user as well as a protector of prostitutes? did he have a sexual relationship with his wife's devoted younger sister, Georgina, or even with the youngest sister Mary Hogarth whose early death brought him an excess of grief and a long-held, strange desire to be buried alongside her? None of these hints is stretched beyond the limits of evidence, but lie glistening in the narrative. Tomalin is less revealing about wife Catherine after her separation from Dickens, which may be from paucity of evidence; it would seem that the deserted Catherine retreated into characteristic blandness without the flame of Dickens nearby.

It is sometimes said that "a biographer is an artist under oath". Claire Tomalin never strays far into the realm of speculation, much less creative invention, but using only the material won by hard research that is nevertheless worked with a sure lightness of touch she keeps us engaged and unwearied, never feelng the weight of the patient hours she has spent creating a rich tapestry, one we are able to appreciate as much for its craft as its truth in the weft. (less)

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Nov 04, 2011 Maggie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is more of a 3.5, but certainly not a 4. Tomalin took on a great challenge - telling the story of Dickens (an oft-told tale) in a mere 400 some-odd pages. What we get is a solid overview of Dickens' life. We start with his complex and often sad childhood, the frenzy and energy of his early years, his struggle in middle age to find understanding and security, and finally the crisis of Nelly Ternan and his decline. Tomalin is particularly strong in the early chapters, her care in charting Dic...more This is more of a 3.5, but certainly not a 4. Tomalin took on a great challenge - telling the story of Dickens (an oft-told tale) in a mere 400 some-odd pages. What we get is a solid overview of Dickens' life. We start with his complex and often sad childhood, the frenzy and energy of his early years, his struggle in middle age to find understanding and security, and finally the crisis of Nelly Ternan and his decline. Tomalin is particularly strong in the early chapters, her care in charting Dickens' peripatetic lifestyle and inability to stay put in one place for a few months really gives the reader the sense of his energy, all that was bubbling just below the surface and ready to explode. Her discussion of his domestic arrangements give us a Dickens who was clearly supported and tolerated by a select group of minders - his sister in law Georgy and his best friend Forester paramount in this group who tended to the somewhat mercurial Boz. She is taking on the image of "the great man" and giving us a more interesting, if certainly flawed, person.

But in the middle, there's a muddle. There's a sense that Tomalin is ticking off the boxes, touching on the novels and the major characters in his life without really delving too deeply into his motivations, feelings etc. Tomalin finds her voice again when Nelly Ternan enters the scene (I heartily recommend that everyone read The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens). But that might not be enough to make this a truly great biography. Other than a handful of pithy, penetrating asides, Tomalin really isn't saying anything new - which, in the case of Dickens, is a herculean task and not something that many people could accomplish at this point.

However, this is an excellent overview of his life and perhaps a better start for those new to Dickens than the towering tome by Peter Ackroyd or the more scholarly work by Michael Slater. Her prose remains throughout light and buoyant, with the occasional raised eyebrow, but never smirk, that makes her books a joy. But for those of us already deeply familiar with his story and his struggles, Tomalin doesn't give us much to chew on. (less)

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May 22, 2013 Ilze Folkmane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Say what you will about Charles Dickens’ writing (it’s too long, too sentimental, amazing, wonderful boring, complicated, vulgar...), but there is something about the man himself. He is the first proper modern celebrity, the great British realist, and to me personally, he is the first author whose life interests me so much, though I can’t say that I like or dislike him as a person. He is deeply flawed, and while benevolent and compassionate, he is also a bit of a monster. It is his brother Fred...more Say what you will about Charles Dickens’ writing (it’s too long, too sentimental, amazing, wonderful boring, complicated, vulgar...), but there is something about the man himself. He is the first proper modern celebrity, the great British realist, and to me personally, he is the first author whose life interests me so much, though I can’t say that I like or dislike him as a person. He is deeply flawed, and while benevolent and compassionate, he is also a bit of a monster. It is his brother Fred who wrote: “The World fancy from your writings that you are the most Tolerant of Men – let them individually come under your lash – (if one is to judge from your behaviour to your own flesh & blood) & God help them!”
One of the things that fascinate me most is how drawn everyone was to Dickens. Literally. Almost all who saw him, also claim to have seen in his face the greatness, the genius, the phenomenon. It, however, remains unclear (and I thought it weird that Tomalin did not even speculate about this matter) whether they saw this greatness because it really could be seen or because they jumped on the immense bandwagon of people adoring him and his fame. Apparently the world has not changed that much since the 19th century.
The discrepancies in his attitude towards his family and the rest of the world are also very peculiar, and Tomalin manages to show these two sides of Dickens' character very well. As someone who is considered to be a 'prophet of the hearth' he is a spectacularly bad father and an even more horrible husband. Still... in the end, probably because I was not the one who had to live with him, Dickens manages to come out as a well-rounded person, with his flaws and with his virtues.
Tomalin’s biography gives a very thorough and well-planned description of Dickens and his life. It also accurately aligns important events with the creation of his novels, and this gives a deeper insight into their themes, as well as enables speculation on the more obscure (consequently, fascinating) episodes of Dickens’ life. Perfect both for general introduction and research.(less)

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Jan 13, 2013 John Behle rated it 5 of 5 stars

We all know a little of Charles Dickens. This well crafted, painstakingly researched page turner makes us smart about the man and his era.

Gritty Britain of the mid-1800s was marked by a brutal, punitive social climate. Dickens did much to push for reforms, laws, and just a new way of thinking through his writing. When that proved too slow, he paid to establish a home and school for fallen women. This progressive life is brilliantly painted by Claire Tomalin. Dickens, his art friends, and publis...more

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Mar 18, 2013 AJW rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

This biography came across to me as factual, concise and a little dry. It's not a complaint as I learnt loads of interesting facts about Dickens' life. And what a life it was! He packed enough into his 58 years to fill a dozen volumes. And Claire Tomalin does well to summarise it here, tracing Dickens life from his grandmother through to death of his last child in 1933. It is well paced and doesn't get bogged down in too much detail or confusing to follow.

What I didn't get from reading this biog...more

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Feb 28, 2012 F.R. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Charles Dickens was such an alive and energetic figure, a ball of energy who seemed to dominate and encapsulate his age; so much so that to read about his life – even these two hundred years later – is to be inspired, invigorated and somewhat dazed. For most people those heavy books alone would have been difficult to manage, let alone the reading tours, plays, charitable pursuits and overseas tours (let alone an extremely complex personal life). He was a complicated man, one who seems to have be...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Biography buffs and history hunters.

Shelves: biography

Where I got the book: my local library.

Claire Tomalin's biography of Jane Austen has been on my bookshelf for what seems like 20 years, although the Goodreads editions roundup has 1997 as the earliest date. Whatever. I'm quite surprised, seeing how much I enjoyed that biography, that Charles Dickens: A Life is only the second Tomalin biography I've read.

From this very limited sample I would say that you go to Tomalin for the close-up, human portrait of your subject. In 417 pages of narrative, To...more Where I got the book: my local library.

Claire Tomalin's biography of Jane Austen has been on my bookshelf for what seems like 20 years, although the Goodreads editions roundup has 1997 as the earliest date. Whatever. I'm quite surprised, seeing how much I enjoyed that biography, that Charles Dickens: A Life is only the second Tomalin biography I've read.

From this very limited sample I would say that you go to Tomalin for the close-up, human portrait of your subject. In 417 pages of narrative, Tomalin displays Dickens in all his contradictions: generous yet selfish, open-handed but capable of great secretiveness, a man of enormous warmth yet able to turn ice-cold on a friend or family member once he decided he was done with them.

My strongest impression was of Dickens' vast reserves of energy; he strides about the pages as he would walk the London streets, always immersed in action, always moving. Tomalin's narrative moves forward at a fast clip, eating up the years chronologically, although there are occasional irritating bursts of foretelling (to keep us reading? As if I wouldn't.)

I would say that Tomalin comes down on the side of Catherine Dickens in the story of the couple's doomed marriage, and on behalf of plump wives everywhere, I thank her. On the whole Dickens gets a poor rating as a husband, father, friend and even occasionally as a writer (it's certainly true that he wasn't always on top form in his books, but considering he wrote for serialization these were pretty much first drafts, an astounding thing when you think about it.)

Good bibliography and index, and lots of interesting photos including a very arresting one of the mature Dickens, clean-shaven. It is the clearest glimpse I've ever had of Dickens the businessman, and Dickens the man of susceptibility to the ladies. It's a shame they were inevitably such young ladies, but he clearly had a very Victorian ideal of womanhood and it wasn't his wife. Hmm, do you think Tomalin's sympathies were persuasive?

(less)

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Jan 09, 2012 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Charles Dickens was a monster. I know, he spent enormous amounts of time and energy raising money for charitable causes. I know, he was sympathetic to the poor, demonstrated their plight in his books, and fought for social reform. I know, he was the most popular writer of the 19th century and his books are still read today, in part because of the vivid caricatures, those children of his fertile imagination.

But his ego was monumental. He was selfish on a scale hard to imagine, he was sarcastic ab...more Charles Dickens was a monster. I know, he spent enormous amounts of time and energy raising money for charitable causes. I know, he was sympathetic to the poor, demonstrated their plight in his books, and fought for social reform. I know, he was the most popular writer of the 19th century and his books are still read today, in part because of the vivid caricatures, those children of his fertile imagination.

But his ego was monumental. He was selfish on a scale hard to imagine, he was sarcastic about people who had done him no harm. He was almost unbelievably cruel to his wife, abandoning her after 20 years of marriage, 10 children, and at least two miscarriages, primarily because he fell in love with an 18-year old girl and his wife, was, not surprisingly, after all those children, growing fat.He was angry at her for having so many children - his sudden hatred for her was that irrational.

He spread lies about her so fantastic most people were embarrassed for him. But if, like Thackeray, his publishers, and other formerly very close friends did not back him entirely he cut them off. His daughters were instructed to cease being friends with Thackeray's daughters and never to speak to their maternal grandmother again. At a time when he was making 10,000 to 12,000 pounds a year he offered his wife 400 pounds a year in alimony. He hired a doctor to declare her of unsound mind. The doctor would have none of it. Mrs Dickens quietly did as he asked and moved out of their house, making little complaint and maintaining her dignity. She was a lady.

Dickens was no gentleman. He dressed like the 19th century equivalent of a used car salesman and his word was about as good. He broke contracts with his various publishers many times in order to get more money for his books. He lied with facility, verbally and in print, all his life.

His sentimentality knew no bounds. When he was writing about the death of Little Nell he worked himself into a tempestuous emotional state, demanding sympathy from all his friends. When the three-year-old daughter of one of those men died and another of Dickens' friends spent days consoling the bereaved father, Dickens wrote that he found this excessive.

Claire Tomalin has done a splendid job of presenting this larger-than-life character with all his strengths and his many horrifying weaknesses. Often a biographer will fall in love with her character and excuse behavior that is inexcusable. Tomalin does not do that. She is as fair to Dickens as it's possible to be and she evaluates his work with great skill and perception (meaning she agrees with me about which books are great and which are laughably bad.)

2012 No 7(less)

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Jan 13, 2012 Ruthiella rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, non-fiction

Please excuse the pun, but after finishing Clare Tomalin’s Dickens, A Life I thought, “He was the best of men, he was the worst of men.” Dickens was a force of nature, almost incapable of being idle. A prodigious and talented author and champion for the poor and downtrodden and the public loved him for it. He was also a lousy husband, an indifferent father and sometimes a vindictive friend, who ascribed to the “Do as I say and not as I do” principle.

This is the first biography of Charles Dicken...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Bettie by: Laura

Shelves: autumn-2011, biography, dickensphenalia, published-2011, radio-4, fradio, victoriana, books-about-books-and-book-shops

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 06, 2011 Jenny Brown rated it 4 of 5 stars

Clair Tomalin is always a pleasure to read, and with each new biography she writes my respect for her grows. She is on the brief list of authors I'd love to dine with.

I loved her earlier book about Ellen Ternan, Dicken's secret lover, so I was very curious to see what she's do with a full-length Dickens bio. I wish I could say this book blew me away, but it didn't. As others have remarked, the part that covers his early life is extremely good, but there are oddities in the way the rest of the s...more Clair Tomalin is always a pleasure to read, and with each new biography she writes my respect for her grows. She is on the brief list of authors I'd love to dine with.

I loved her earlier book about Ellen Ternan, Dicken's secret lover, so I was very curious to see what she's do with a full-length Dickens bio. I wish I could say this book blew me away, but it didn't. As others have remarked, the part that covers his early life is extremely good, but there are oddities in the way the rest of the story is covered. This is partly because I've read quite a few Dickens biographies by now so I had great expectations of my own as to what I was going to read.

But Tomalin can't quite bear to go into the details of Dickens shameful treatment of his wife--she comes right out and says so. And that weakens the book greatly.

The other issue I had with it is that when she describes each of his novels in the course of the narrative, she does so in a way that leaves the reader thinking that each one of them was somehow lacking. Writing as if she assumes that the reader is very familiar with each book, she doesn't get across what it is about them that made them so popular, except to suggest that his sentimental obsessing about the deaths of small children appealed to readers whose own children were so prone to die.

This subtle dissing of Dickens' work may leave the reader who hasn't yet read Dickens thinking there's no point any more in reading him. And now that most Americans have longer have read any Dickens as part of their education, that does the reader a great disservice. It would be easy to come away from this book thinking that you wouldn't want to read this one because it is too long and wordy, that one because the characters are too artificial, the other because the plot is overblown.

But there's a reason why Dickens was the preeminent popular novelist of his day and that reason is that his books are great fun to read. Even the long ones. Even the ones with silly plots. No one does with words what Dickens does, with the musical, powerful, incantations he uses to create the urban world he lived in and skewer the people who lives there--people you will find, who still live in the world you inhabit, even if they've changed the style of their furniture or the subject of their hypocrisy.

So if you haven't yet had the pleasure of sinking into Dickens world, don't let the criticism of his writing you'll find in this book deter you from experiencing one of literature's great pleasures!

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Dec 10, 2012 Marie Fouhey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought I was more or less familiar with Dickens' life, but this book continually surprised me. He was incredibly energetic, more personally involved in good causes when he was young than I had realized, and also a much worse husband and father than I had thought. He apparently had as much trouble understanding women in life as he did in portraying them in books. This book is an interesting, well-written account of his life. My only minor objection is that he moved around a great deal and atte...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Leah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-2012

Some lives are just too full to be adequately covered in one biography. As this book so clearly shows, Dickens was one of those large-lived persons. I had great expectations going into this book due to Tomalin's impressive biography of Samuel Pepys, and the first few chapters of this book led me to believe it would be equally impressive. However, it seemed to deal more with the surface of his life rather than the substance, with the "busyness" of his life. I gained no new insights into his writi...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Christie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Genuinely fascinating. I like to think of Dickens as many men in one: jolly punch drinker (and writer of the recipe for the strongest hot punch I've ever had and which nearly made me pass out on my feet), street-walker and denizen of London's depths, lover of families and the impoverished and the man who divided his own family and disowned (nearly) half of his children for insolvency and debt. As a man, he's a conundrum and a fascinating one.

Reading a biography of an author -- when I've read al...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Darlene rated it 5 of 5 stars

I actually had very mixed feelings about reading this biography of Charles Dickens once I actually had it in my hands. I fell in love with the writings of Charles Dickens back when I was a teenager. I love the Victorian England time period. I loved the characters Dickens created... even the odious ones. I admired his superb ability to use the english language to create characters and scenes that were absolutely unforgettable to me. I think the thing that drew me to his writing was my discovery...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, biography, literary_biography

A traditional, cradle-to-grave live of Charles Dickens. In fact, it starts well before the cradle -- with tbe obligatory discussion of the lives of grandparents and parents before the subject is even born. And in an innovation, the final chapter covers the remainder of the lives of everyone who knew Dickens -- including a brief life and death of each of his children (he had ten in total) and friends (many more), going through 1939 when the last person that knew him died.

But that should not be a...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyed reading this biography of Dickens since I am a huge fan of his writing. Not only was he a writer, but also an actor, and produced and acted in many amateur plays with friends and family, raising money for charities.

He was a staunch liberal, writing for liberal newspapers, and on the side of the common man. He deplored the lives of the idle rich, but enjoyed the comforts he found in their homes. He was a master of description of people in all walks of life, and held up society for its te...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 21st-century, british, non-fiction, read-in-2012, library

If I'm not mistaken, this is only the second biography I've ever read. I'm usually not that attracted to biographies, I prefer reading the actual novels to learning about the life of the author. But Dickens is such an amazing writer + this is his year + I'd heard nothing but good things about this book, so those seemed pretty good reasons to read this. Like I said, I don't have much experience with biographies, but I do think this was simply an outstanding one. I had no idea what a rich, varied...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Lindz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 21st-century, biography, historical-non-fiction, read-2011

This is a solid meat and potato biography of the old man of letters, Mr Dickens. A really good over view.

Dickensian London is so meshed in our collective image of Victorian London, they are now one in the same. Dark cobbled alleyways holding any number of secrets and bodies. Smokey cramped neighbourhoods, greasy fingers dolling out slimy coin. Tiny pallor rooms with white capped women bent over needle work by the light of the fire. All grotesque, all chaotic and bloated.

Or is that just me, and...more

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About Claire Tomalin

Born Claire Delavenay in London, she was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge.

She became literary editor of the 'New Statesman' and also the 'Sunday Times'. She has written several noted biographies and her work has been recognised with the award of the 1990 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 1991 Hawthornden Prize for 'The Invisible Woman The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens'.

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The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens

The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft

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