Disturbing scenes from the early life of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens’s orphaned “item of mortality”, are among the most familiar in English literature. “I knew I would have to do a lot of work to connect Mudie with Dickens, but there were just so many similarities, both biographical and literary. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist as a book in 1839. Photograph: Bettmann ArchiveMebius, 30, lays out her argument in an essay for The Dickensian, the journal of The International Dickens Fellowship, edited by Andrews. In it, she describes finding proof that Dickens had once owned the book, and then highlights the key resonant passages of Mudie’s writing.

Source: The Guardian December 22, 2019 09:33 UTC