As we get ready for Fayetteville’s 25th Annual “A Dickens Holiday” on the day after Thanksgiving, we need to reflect on why we still care about Charles Dickens. Almost everybody has either read A Christmas Carol or seen a movie or TV adaptation. (There are more than a dozen to choose from including The Muppet Christmas Carol.) Many other books by Dickens have also been made into movies, plays, and musicals. But did you know A Tale of Two Cities is still one of the best-selling novels of all time at 200 million copies?
So, what is our continued enchantment with Dickens after almost two centuries? Dickens scholar, associate professor of English at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Danny Siegel said, “Dickens is a great storyteller, maybe the best. People love his stories, his oddball characters, his vivid settings, and the sense of immediacy in his writing.”
It is not just we readers who love Dickens. Many contemporary writers have authored books in the style of Dickens, often with great success. E. L. Doctorow’s novels have been compared to the works of Dickens. When he was awarded the 2014 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, he was proclaimed to be “our very own Charles Dickens.”
Popular lecturer and former North Carolina State University professor Dr. Elliot Engel always draws a sold-out crowd for his programs on Dickens. In fact, he will be one of the main attractions at “A Dickens Holiday” this year. Visit faydta.com/adickensholiday to find out more about this wonderful celebration.
“Dickens writes about the struggle of daily life, but also the idea that you can make a positive change in your own life. He uses his stories to call us to kindness, and though they have passed through the generations, they still speak to the heart today.”
Charles Dickens Museum
The following are some contemporary novels “in the style of Dickens.” Check them out and get in just the right mood for “A Dickens Holiday” on Friday, Nov. 29, in downtown Fayetteville.
1. Cider House Rules by John Irving
Irving credits Dickens’ Great Expectations as the story that made him want to be a writer. Critics have noted that Dickens’ influence is easy to spot in many of Irving’s novels with the melodrama, complex plots, and dangerous situations. And the orphaned children! I have read quite a few Irving novels and Cider House Rules may be my favorite.
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Described as “Dickens meets Harry Potter,” this fantasy novel is about the friendship between two magicians in 19th-century England. Set during the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, the two magicians join forces to use their powers in the fight against France.
3. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel based on the themes of David Copperfield, we see the effects of the opioid crisis in southern Appalachia. A boy is born into poverty to a single mother, subjected to the poorly funded foster care system, forced into child labor, and then drug addiction. It is a stunning book that forces us to face the realities of today, all too similar to the grisly conditions of Dickens’ time.
4. The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Based on a true case in Victorian England, this is a story of a lower-class butcher from Australia who claimed he was the heir to a large fortune in England. Convincing the mother of the actual heir who was lost at sea, the case goes to trial and captivates all of England. Told by Mrs. Eliza Touchet, the housekeeper, we also meet her cousin’s friend Charles Dickens. What a treat to see our renowned writer amongst his friends during such a fascinating time.
5. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Set in Victorian times in the Dickensian spirit, an orphan girl joins together with a man to swindle a wealthy older man. With a nod to both Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, we are treated to a story of class conflict, mysterious settings, and hopes of a better life for the downtrodden.
6. Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
With his reputation as a contemporary author truly in the style of Dickens, Doctorow sets his story in the early 20th century before World War I. He weaves his imagined affluent American family together with historical figures like Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and Sigmund Freud. The drama begins when a ragtime musician from Harlem suffers a racist attack and seeks justice from the white authorities.
Whether you read Dickens’ own works or novels influenced by Dickens, you may cultivate a deeper understanding of your fellow man and how they deal with the trials and tribulations of life.
Diane Parfitt is a retired pediatric nurse and former assistant professor of nursing education. She owns City Center Gallery & Books in downtown Fayetteville. She can be reached at citycentergallerybooks@gmail.com.
The Dreamtime of the Artful Dodger is worth reading