Book Review: Mr. Dickens and His Carol

Samantha Silva recreates a fictional tale of Charles Dickens and his book, The Christmas Carol. Mr. Dickens and His Carol contains many historical facts: things like the flop of Martin Chuzzlewit, the fawning hangers-on looking for Dickens to provide for them, and the pressure to produce a Christmas tale on short notice to pay bills. It also takes creative license to bear out a decent story. Having read several Dickens biographies, I was familiar with the basics of this story. While certain elements took me by surprise (Eleanor Lovejoy's character and role), it was a wholly entertaining holiday read. 

Silva has conjured the remarkable giving nature of this master writer and walked him through despair and out into sunshine, just as the "carol" does. I think we all have a bit of Scrooge in us and can overlook blessings and good. Yet, life can lead us through experiences that change us for the better, making us more aware of our blessings and more willing to extend a hand to others. The book ends with an author's note and suggested book club questions. I appreciated the author's observation that "a good biography tells us the truth about a person; a good story, the truth about ourselves." How I wish I had Dickens' story-weaving abilities! Silva ends her note with this, "This book is my tribute to his prodigious gift, written with full awareness that he is, and always will be, inimitable."