I really enjoyed this book as an introduction of sorts rather then a full blown biography. As a longtime fan of A Christmas Carol, and Dickens writing in general, just enough info was imparted for my non scholarly wish for information. If you love A Christmas Carol and want to know more about what Dickens used for characters and settings this might be the book for you. ( )

Synopsis:
This book explores how the life of Charles Dickens influenced his book A Christmas Carol.

My rating: 4/5

First off, this book was very pretty. I loved all the pictures inside. It was very aesthetically pleasing and that added an extra layer to my enjoyment as I read.
I really enjoyed the layout of this book. There were chapter headings that explored each character within the Christmas Carol book and looked at likely inspirations for it. For instance, it is likely that the name Scrooge came from a tombstone Dickens saw and misread. He read it to say that Scroggie was a mean man instead of a meal man. Obviously, he changed the spelling around as well. But, that was just one of many fun details that the book explores.
This book had a somewhat slow and dry start with frequent (probably too many) lengthy quotes. That made the book feel dense and dry. However, that improved greatly as the book went on and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
There is quite a bit of information on the life of Dickens and I enjoyed learning more about the author.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biographies and has read/seen A Christmas Carol.
Very well done book. ( )

Quick read. ( )