By the winter of 1843 Charles Dickens was in trouble. His most recent book series, Martin Chuzzlewit, was not selling well. His wife, Catherine, was pregnant with their fifth child and he was facing financial difficulties, made worse when his publishers threatened to drop his income if his book sales did not improve. Under pressure, Dickens decided to embark upon an entirely new project. Drawing upon his experience of the desperate poverty he saw in London and Manchester, and determined to open people’s hearts to the extremity of need all around him, he picked up his quill and created one of the most famous books in English literary history.
This December, join the 3x great granddaughter of Charles Dickens, Lucinda Hawksley, as she examines the remarkable story of A Christmas Carol. Examining Dickens’s early childhood, the beginnings of his literary career and the pressures of juggling his new found fame with his young family, Lucinda will explore how A Christmas Carol came to be written and unpicks the impact of this most famous of Christmas stories.
Photo credit: © Charles Dickens Museum