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Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was (and still is!) the most popular novelist of the Victorian era. Much of his work first appeared in serialised form in periodicals and magazines. Shortly after the last instalment the novel came out, usually in three volumes. Dickens's output is very large: fifteen novels, a large number of short stories (among them the famous Christmas stories), a handful of plays, and several non-fiction books. One of his novels, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was still unfinished when he died. David Copperfield was Dickens's own favourite among his novels. It is partly autobiographical. Like David Copperfield, Dickens worked in a factory in his youth. Like Copperfield Dickens pursued a writing career.

There is not much of a plot in David Copperfield. It is a Bildungsroman. Its narrator is David Copperfield himself, who looks back on his youth and early adulthood. David is educated at a boarding school, where he befriends the egotistical James Steerforth and the good-natured Tommy Traddles. After his mother’s death his cruel stepfather Murdstone employs David in his factory. David decides to try his luck elsewhere. He apprentices himself at the London lawyer firm of Spenlow and Jorkins. He falls in love with Spenlow’s daughter Dora and marries her after Spenlow's death. Dora proves a terrible housewife, however. David, who has now chosen a writing career, is happy with her nonetheless and very sad when she dies. At the end of the novel he remarries Agnes Wickfield, an old friend. It is not so much the plot that makes this novel interesting, but its many characters and the way they interact. The two characters the reader will never forget are Uriah Heep, a creepy law clerk, and Wilkins Micawber, a careless spendthrift who is always full of plans that never materialize. please inform me when this book comes out