{"id":85831,"date":"2023-12-18T10:45:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T10:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovieandtv.com\/?p=85831"},"modified":"2023-12-18T10:45:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T10:45:06","slug":"the-life-and-lies-of-charles-dickens-by-helena-kelly-dickens-revised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovieandtv.com\/books\/the-life-and-lies-of-charles-dickens-by-helena-kelly-dickens-revised\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life And Lies Of Charles Dickens by Helena Kelly \u2013 Dickens revised"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As this fascinating book reveals, we don’t actually know the truth at all.<\/p>\n

Much of what we think we know is based on an authorised biography by John Forster published in 1871.<\/p>\n

Fair enough you might think but Forster was Dickens’s best mate and only “revealed” what Dickens wanted the public to know.<\/p>\n

Forster was a spin doctor par excellence for his friend and his book is replete with lies, lacunae and inconsistencies.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong> A Notorious Guide to Britain – Welcome to our weird and wonderful nation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1856, Dickens wrote to fellow author Wilkie Collins: “I have never seen anything about myself in print which has much correctness in it.”<\/p>\n

And that was the way Dickens liked and wanted it.<\/p>\n

He met Forster in 1836 and within a year the two men were working together.<\/p>\n

It was Forster who said that David Copperfield<\/em> was autobiographical.<\/p>\n

Forster also kept hidden a secret sister and Jewish relatives and much more including plagiarism, fraud, and suicide.<\/p>\n

In fact, Forster is less a biographer and more a reputation manager.<\/p>\n

For the real story, check out Helena Kelly.<\/p>\n