David Copperfield

Summary

David Copperfield narrates his own life from a difficult childhood under a cruel stepfather through school hardships, an unstable career, and a series of vivid friendships and betrayals on his way to adulthood. Dickens drew heavily on his own early experiences, including his time in a factory, to give the novel unusual emotional honesty. Its wide cast, from the endlessly hopeful Micawber to the treacherous Uriah Heep, remains among Dickens's richest achievements.