‘Overrun with rats’: Charles Dickens Museum illuminates author’s factory stint
‘Overrun with rats’: Charles Dickens Museum illuminates author’s factory stint
‘Overrun with rats’: Charles Dickens Museum illuminates author’s factory stint
Dickens was taken out of school aged 11 to work in a London blacking factory as his father sank into debt
From August 25 to January 21 at the Charles Dickens Museum, London, a special exhibit is ongoing. On display: letters from Charles Dickens' father that illuminate the author's very sad childhood. When only 11 years old, Dickens was sent to work at a factory as his father became further indebted. The letters not only reveal the writer's difficult childhood, but also his understandably strained relationship with his father. Also on display is an early edition of the three-volume biography of Dickens, written by his friend John Forster, entitled The Life of Charles Dickens.