- Dear Mr. Dickens by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Bethany Stancliffe (Albert Whitman & Company, 2021).
The heroine of this children's picture book is Eliza Davis, the Jewish woman who famously confronted Charles Dickens over his portrayal of Fagin in Oliver Twist. Author Nancy Churnin tells Davis's story simply but with sensitivity and insight. She explains how the anti-Semitic descriptions of the character hurt Davis all the more because they were coming from a great author that she loved, and how this spurred her to take action. And she helps young readers understand how this story might apply to their lives: "Think of someone famous you admire. What would you do if that person said or wrote something unfair? Would you speak up? Would you risk getting that person angry?"
Churnin's portrayal of Dickens is unflinchingly honest, showing that his reaction to Davis initially was sharp and defensive. But the book also shows how, as Davis kept up the pressure on him, he came to understand and appreciate her point of view and changed his work accordingly. It makes the point that the two of them had a genuine concern for the needy in common, and that it was Davis's challenging him to live up to his own high standards that made the difference.
I learned a lot from this book I didn't know (I hadn't realized that there had been more than one exchange of letters between Davis and Dickens), not just from the story itself, but also from the comprehensive Author's Note at the back. This children's book is the fullest and best account of the incident I've ever seen, enhanced by Bethany Stancliffe's lively and touching illustrations, and I recommend it highly.
- The Artful Dickens: The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist by John Mullan (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020).
With the very first line of his introduction, John Mullan leaves no doubt about the topic of his book: "What is so good about Dickens's novels? This book tries to answer that question, oddly evaded by many who have written about him." This makes it just the sort of book about Charles Dickens that I like best, the kind that delves into his works, their style, their effect, and basically everything that's good about them. In this case, Mullan chooses certain aspects of Dickens's writing that he likes best, some of which are already well known ("Laughing," "Naming," Using coincidences") and others of which are more unexplored and unexpected ("Changing tenses," "Smelling").
Trends come and go in literary studies as in other areas, and one trend we've seen lately is a focus on everything that was wrong with Dickens. It's important to present a balanced picture of any great writer, but I've been feeling lately as if things have overbalanced and tipped pretty far in that direction. So a book like this, at this point, actually helps bring things back into balance by reminding us that there are, after all, plenty of reasons to love Dickens and his writing! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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