An exploration of adulation and farewells for Charles Dickens.

Claire Tomalin's acclaimed biography of Britain's great novelist paints a portrait of an extraordinarily complex man.

Tomalin evocatively portrays Dickens as a writer charged with tremendous imagination and energy, enabling him to create characters who continue to endure in our popular culture from The Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip and David Copperfield.

He was also a hard-working journalist, a philanthropist, a supporter of social causes, and father of ten, and yet his genius also had a dark side.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton.

Read by Penelope Wilton.

Producer: Elizabeth Allard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011. Show less