This was such a fascinating read. I found it very interesting and it raised more questions than answers so whilst a great book it is hard to prove the theories. I must congratulate the author on her exemplary research

Sadly dnf'd as much of the book is presented as unevidenced supposition.
Some of the suggestions are in direct opposition to what Dickens stated within his much loved classic literature.

*Many thanks to Helen Kelly, icon Books, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review*.
Do you think you know a lot about Charles Dickens? Well, you know a little but you will learn more about his life while reading this book, and you are bound to be surprised by Dickens' skillful ways of covering his tracks.
Ms Kelly offers a most readable non-ficiton, based on her in-depth analysis and research of letters, newspapapers, parish records and more. I am not a great fan of his works, just enjoyed them, now, thanks to this book, I am planning to reread thick tomes, hoping to find traces of Ms Kelly's investigation and those of his family members or friends. Dickens seemed to have hidden the facts, or to have intentionally left avenues for interpretation, to say the least. Reasons? Of different nature, some too intimate, some too shameful to be revealed to public, especially one theory put forward by Ms Kelly in the last chapter sounds plausible to me. Recommended!

There are a lot of biographies of Charles Dickens. Anyone who has read him for GCSE or A Level will know quite a few biographical facts about him. This biography stands out and is worth reading for several reasons. Firstly Helena Kelly has meticulously fact checked the stories that Dickens told about himself, and which are the basis for most of the information about the writer. Surprise surprise, Dickens used a lot of creative license when detailing his life. However what makes this book so interesting and readable for me is they way Helena Kelly details her search for Dickens. Instead of this being a book of dry facts, we follow Kelly and her quest through the archives. This makes the book interesting to a much wider audience. People, like me, who are not that interested in reading a biography of Charles Dickens will find this book interesting and a great read just because of the chase, a great read whether or not you are a Dickens fan.

The title of this book really intrigued me. All too often I think biographies of figures of this sort just focus on rehashing the same info and the same, GOOD, info. Whether what's said here is true, I guess we'll never know.
I don't read a lot of non-fiction, and I always struggle to know how to rate it. Do I judge the writing? My enjoyment? What I learned? Would I be rushing to recommend to others? In this case, no. I think if you're interested in the book, go for it, maybe you'll get more out of it than me.

I read and very much enjoyed Claire Tomalin’s biography some years ago. It was detailed, well researched and felt authoritative. Whilst reading it, I had a feeling that there was almost a subtext. Here was a popular and successful author, a married man with a host of children, but clearly not happily living at home with his wife and family.

I was keen to read Helena Kelly’s take on the man and his life and this book certainly doesn’t disappoint. Her research is exhaustive and appears meticulous. I liked the fact that she’s approached her subject in a forensic manner. Rather than relying on perception, she’s explored contemporaneous evidence in the form of newspaper articles and known fact. It’s clear from the outset that John Foster, a friend and early biographer, presented a very contrived view of the man, it seems certain that Dickens was keen to manipulate and market his image and was very much ahead of his time.

From the outset, it’s clear that known fact doesn’t sit easily with the accepted story of his life. The reality is often significantly different and whilst there’s no definitive proof, there’s sufficient evidence to suggest that he was not the benign and doting man he’d have us believe. I’m happy to consider the conjecture in this book; Kelly’s approach is open and it’s good to see the way she has challenged perception. It’s well written; an easy and interesting read which will doubtless add to the enjoyment of Dickens books and characters as the inspiration for many is clear. A great slice of social history too.

Very enjoyable read, a lot of it based on theories and archives rather than hard facts necessarily, but I found it overall interesting and it does raise good questions and good points. I am not particularly familiar with Dickens' biography myself and only know what most people know, so it is difficult to comment on how much this book brings in terms of new ideas, but it was pleasantly written, seems well-researched and does ask many questions.

Helena Kelly's "The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens" is a recent addition to Dickensian biographies, offering a distinctive portrayal of the Victorian author that diverges from the standard narrative. This chronological exploration of Dickens' life takes a unique approach by scrutinizing every aspect, aiming to shed light only on the negative facets of his character.

Kelly does make compelling arguments at times, offering insightful critiques of Dickens' actions and motivations. However, the biography often ventures into the realm of the exaggerated, as some of the accusations leveled against Dickens are so far-fetched and they border on the absurd.

I acknowledge that Dickens was a complex individual with notable flaws, but the biography seems to lack a balanced appreciation for his literary contributions. Notably absent from the narrative is any recognition of the enduring impact and literary legacy Dickens has left on the literary world, from "The Pickwick Papers" to "The Mystery of Edwin Drood".

Despite its critical stance, the book does offer commendable qualities. Kelly's writing is captivating, and her extensive research is evident. Surprisingly, the biography reads with the pace of a novel, making it an engaging and accessible exploration of Dickens' life. I would just recommend to sometimes set aside your belief on certain things.

Note: I also posted the review on Amazon, I am just waiting for it to get published. I will try to add the link afterwards.

Completely fascinating. A quite savage questioning of everything that we think we might know about Dickens and what the usually accepted “truth” about him actually is. So many lies, secrets, obfuscations and deceptions. Deliberate twistings of the truth in order to maintain his brand image. I don’t have the requisite knowledge to know whether any of Kelly’s many assertions can be challenged or not, I don’t know enough to question her research, but it all sounded very convincing and plausible to me. She’s obviously gone through the research with a fine toothed comb and sometimes she comes to often startling conclusions. The reader must judge for his or her self. I found the book enormously interesting, a real page-turner, and was excited to have so many of my previous ideas and assumptions challenged.

Interesting biography which sheds interesting new light on the life of one of the world’s most famous authors.

According to author Helena Kelly, Charles Dickens' greatest work of fiction was the version of his life story that he concocted for public consumption. In her meticulously researched book ,"The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens" he's revealed as a self-centred narcissist and fantasist ,a serial philanderer who appeared to fall deeply in love with his paramours while treating his wife coldly and almost perpetually pregnant. Along with allegations of plagiarism and evidence that contemporary reviews of much of his work were quite often scathing ,not least about them often being the same stories and characters recycled,it's not a pretty picture.

Much of my very early reading was Dickens and I'm very familiar with part of Kent where he lived both as a child and in later life so I found this particularly interesting. Helena Kelly's arguments are convincing and footnotes reveal the vast multitude of sources she's used .from newspaper archives to online genealogy websites and most intriguingly an old theatre flyer that plays a big part in the story.
Ms Kelly has an encyclopedic knowledge of Dickens' work and the biggest revelation for me, with my memories of enjoying his books as a 10 year-old ,was that aside from a small handful of good books his myriad of tales were often repetitive, made little sense or were blatantly stolen from other people.
A very interesting and well-researched book.

There is a lot in this book which is interesting and sounds like it may be plausible but in the end it really didn't convince me. Helena Kelly is obviously very knowledgeable about the books of Charles Dickens and uses a lot of examples to highlight her theories but I didn't fully agree with some of her premise - many people have looked at the life of Charles Dickens as a source of inspiration for his writing (as happens with many other authors) but Kelly turns this on its head at times and seems to use the books as a way of finding out more about Dickens' life, which seems wholly unreliable to me. The title is very obviously chosen to take a side and catch attention but the content did little to persuade me.

A lot of what is supposedly uncovered as showing Dickens to be telling lies is unsubstantiated by any evidence and is based purely on supposition by the author. For example, she has a theory that he may have worked in a boot blacking factory as a writer of advertising copy but says "we can't be sure when or even whether this happened" - the use of phrases like this and the repeated use of 'perhaps' make it difficult to trust as a source for information. If there is evidence to back up some of the author's suspicions, it is certainly not provided and in too many cases there is an issue of correlation not being the same as causation - the theories may be interesting but that is very much all they are and need a lot more research. It feels as though the author is determined to discover new material or show Dickens in a new light and does this based on her personal reading of a situation rather than any actual evidence.

There are also some throwaway comments that seemed to me to be unnecessary - talking about his wife Catherine and her propensity to fall and trip and bruise herself, there is a comment "If the injuries weren't all to do with Catherine's feet, this could come across as an abusive husband's explanation of how his wife keeps walking into walls." There is no suggestion of physical violence and another possible explanation is later given so why make an inflammatory comment like that at all?

There are many times the behaviour of Dickens seems strange but other plausible theories aren't ever really mentioned - there are theories of whether he may have been bipolar and the level of his fame and the way the public/press often try to knock down those who become successful is interesting but never really covered.
Kelly seems to be determined to ensure Dickens is coming out in a bad light - there was talk at the time of possible plagiarism by him, and that is covered, as is jealousy of other authors, but the fact that he is publishing other authors at all and working with them doesn't get as much attention.

At the end of the day, I came out of this book unsure what I could trust as accurate and feeling very much that I got a side that had set out to prove theories the author had come up with, rather than following where the evidence may lead. Dickens burned a lot of material relating to his life so it is possible we will never really know exactly what happened or perhaps future research will prove/disprove these theories, but at the moment there is just not enough evidence to convince me of any of it.

I have no particular love of the work of Dickens - I have read and enjoyed a few and have obviously seen multiple versions of A Christmas Carol - but this felt more like an author trying to say something outrageous to stand out in a crowded field, rather than producing a particularly interesting or revealing biography.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

#TheLifeandLiesofCharlesDickens #NetGalley

This is so interesting! It’s not only an extremely carefully researched and documented account of Dickens’ life, it is also a reflection on celebrity in Victorian times. How celebrities were viewed, reported on and how they curated their own stories is fascinating to read about when you consider how celebrities use social media today.

I found it enjoyable to gain more knowledge on Charles Dickens. Lots of facts and information that about Dickens that I didnt know prior to reading this book.