Early novels and later life
In 1824, Charles's got a job in a lawyer's office at the age of 15, but he found the job dull and boring.
Charles submitted his first story, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk", to the London periodical Monthly Magazine in 1833. He was offered a job and worked in the House of Commons writing about Parliament. He taught himself shorthand and travelled around England in a stagecoach, writing for newspapers.
Charles would often walk around the city of London, watching and listening. He was angered at the sad things that he saw but it helped him come up with ideas for new stories. He wanted to make things better for people and open new libraries, schools, and hospitals.
The image below is a wax figure of Charles Dickens in Madame Tussaud's museum.
Charles wrote over a dozen novels, many short stories, several plays, and several non-fiction books.
In 1837, Oliver Twist came out. He was an orphan boy who ends up in London in a gang of thieves. The story ends happily for Oliver but people were shocked by the way poor children were treated.
In 1843, Dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol', one of his most famous stories. In this story, we meet the miser Scrooge and four ghosts.
In 1868, Charles went to the United States, reading to large audiences on stage. The job was tiring and he became very sick.
In 1870, Charles Dickens died at his home in Kent. He was writing a book called 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'. He was buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
