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Charles Dickens and a house in Berkshire
BASILDON PARK IS an 18th century stately home in Berkshire. Now managed by the National Trust, it has had many owners including the Sykes family. Sir Francis William Sykes inherited the place from his grandfather. When his wife had an affair with the artist Daniel Maclise, Sir Francis disowned her and publicly humiliated her. Now, Maclise was a close friend of the author Charles Dickens, and at the time when Sykes was being unpleasant towards his wife, the author was working on his novel “Oliver Twist”. Dickens created the nasty criminal character called Bill Sikes to take his revenge on Sir Francis (see http://www.basildon-berks-pc.gov.uk/basildon-berks/basildons_past-20268.aspx)
FaginWe visit Basildon Park regularly. For this reason and because of its connection with Bill Sikes, I had decided to read “Oliver Twist”. It is the third of the Dickens novels that I have read recently. It was one of the first that he wrote. Compared with the two I have already read, “Nicholas Nickleby” and “Martin Chuzzlewit”, it flows easily and is very exciting.
The first thing that struck me was how early in the book the famous “Please Sir, can I have some more” scene occurs. It is an important episode but one that people seem to remember more than the rest of the book.
“Oliver Twist” is full of wonderful characters, both good and evil. Amongst the latter, Sikes, Bullseye (a dog), Fagin, Mr Bumble, and Monks are particularly well portrayed. There is a host of characters who see the best in Oliver’s personality. Oliver and his troubled young life is brilliantly narrated, and as I turned the pages, my heart was in my mouth as I waited to see what misadventure would next befall him.
I found the novel to be fast moving and exciting. As the saying goes, it is a real ‘page-turner’. I had no idea that Dickens’s writing could be so thrilling. Having come to the end of “Oliver Twist”, I am next embarking on “Barnaby Rudge”, which I have chosen because it concerns the Gordon Riots of 1780, about which I have read in history books.
