Charles Dickens is one of the greatest novelists in the English language. He wrote about the real world of Victorian England and many of his characters were not rich, middle-class ladies and gentlemen, but poor and hungry people.
His family lived in London. His father was a clerk in an office. It was a good job, but he always spent more money than he earned and he was often in debt. There were eight children in the family, so life was hard.
Charles went to school and his teachers thought he was very clever. But suddenly, when he was only eleven, his father went to prison for his debts and the family went, too. Only Charles didn’t go to prison. He went to in a factory, where he washed bottles. He worked ten hours a day and earned six shillings (30p) a week. Every night, after work, he walked four miles back to his room. Charles hated it and never forgot the experience. He used it in many novels especially David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.
When he was eleven, he started work for a newspaper. He visited law courts and the Houses of Parliament. Soon he was one of the Morning Chronicle’s best journalists. He also wrote short stories for magazines. These were funny descriptions of people that he met. Dickens' characters were full of colour and life –good people were very good and bad people were horrible. His books became popular in many countries and he spent a lot of time abroad, in America, Italy, and Switzerland.
Dickens had ten children, but he didn’t have a happy family life.