The Holly Tree by Charles Dickens. A journeying gentleman finds himself snowed in at The Holly Tree, and resolves to entertain himself by recording the stories he hears from his fellow tenants. Trapped for a week, he is regaled with tales from all around him, including the barmaid and the landlord. The fictional delights he feasts upon include an intriguing mystery by a master innovator of the genre, Wilkie Collins, as well as classically Dickensian sparks of humour and romance.

The Battle of Life by Charles Dickens. The Battle of Life: A Love Story is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in 1846. It is the fourth of his five "Christmas Books," coming after The Cricket on the Hearth and followed by The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. Plot summary Two sisters, Grace and Marion, live happily in an English village with their two servants, Clemency Newcome and Ben Britain, and their good-natured widower father Dr Jeddler. Dr Jeddler is a man whose philosophy is to treat life as a farce. Marion, the younger sister, is betrothed to Alfred Heathfield,...

Charles John Huffam Dickens 7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited...

Our Mutual Friend (1864-5) is the last completed novel written by Charles Dickens. It centers on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" (which is, incidently, a quote from Our Mutual Friend, spoken by Bella at the end of book III, chapter iv.). In the opening chapter, a young man is on his way to receive his inheritance, which, according to his father's will, he can only claim if he marries Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he has never met. However, before he can arrive, a body is found in the Thames and identified as...

Originally published as a novel in serial form between 1855 and 1857, Little Dorrit satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens's own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office." In addition he satirises the...

Originally published as a novel in serial form between 1855 and 1857, Little Dorrit satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens's own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office." In addition he satirises the...

A Child's History of England is a book written by Charles Dickens. Dickens brought his skills as a novelist to his description of the key events and personages of English history, resulting in a vivid and highly readable account which enjoyed immense popularity as a serial and, later, in book form. The book was adopted as a text book in British schools and was in use well into the first half of the 20th century, despite the fact that many critics pointed out that the book was not well researched and not always historically accurate. A Child's History of England covers the period of English...

Hard Times Charles Dickens Hard Times - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and highlights the social and economic pressures of the times. The novel was published as a serial in Dickens's weekly publication, Household Words. Sales were highly responsive and encouraging for Dickens who remarked that he was "Three parts mad, and the fourth delirious, with perpetual rushing at Hard Times." The novel was serialised, in twenty weekly parts, between 1 April and 12 August 1854. It sold well,...