Book Choice

Dickens at 200…celebrate the life and works of Charles Dickens.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Dickens died before completing his last novel, leaving its mystery unsolved and encouraging successive generations of readers to try and work out what happened next.
Dombey and Son
London in the 1840s worships money at the expense of love. Mr Dombey pins all his hopes and affections on his son, Paul, and cruelly neglects his loving daughter, Florence. This novel charts Dombey's progress through tragedy to enlightenment.
Bleak House
'Bleak House', Dickens's most daring experiment in the narration of a complex plot, challenges the reader to make connections between the fashionable and the outcast, the beautiful and the ugly, the powerful and the victims. Nowhere in Dickens's later novels is his attack on an uncaring society more imaginatively embodied.
Lazy tour of two idle apprentices
A mixture of memory and fiction, this novel is based on a walking tour of England undertaken by Dickens and Wilkie Collins.
Oliver Twist
Dickens wrote this story of a boy forced to live in a dark and dismal workhouse lorded over by Mr Bumble to draw attention to Victorian social ills. Desperate but determined, Oliver makes his escape and finds that life in the harsh streets of London's underworld makes the workhouse look like a picnic.
Pickwick papers
'The Pickwick Papers' takes its title from the Pickwick Club founded by Mr Samuel Pickwick, and of which Messrs Tracy Tupman, Augustus Snodgrass and Nathaniel Winkle are members.
A Tale of two cities
Rich in drama and romance, this deftly plotted 1859 historical novel bristles with suspense and culminates in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine.
Anne Isba "Dickens and women"
A colourful account of the half dozen most important women in Dickens' life, this book addresses what is both an important and controversial aspect of the author's life.
Valerie Lester "Phiz"
'Phiz' - Hablot Knight Browne - was the great illustrator of Dickens' fiction. For over twenty-three years they worked together and Phiz's drawings brought to life a galaxy of much-loved characters, from Mr Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby and Mr Micawber, to Little Nell and David Copperfield.
Mike Paterson "Inside Dickens’ London"
An evocative account of 19th-century London, so well known from Charles Dickens' much-loved novels. It draws on descriptions of life in the capital from original letters, diaries and newspapers, as well as Dickens' own social commentary, to paint a vivid portrait of a city undergoing massive social changes.

eBook book of the month

Claire Tomalin "Charles Dickens"

Claire Tomalin paints an unforgettable portrait of Dickens, capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius.

Foreign Language Book Choice

Manto kay 30 shahkar afsanay

This month’s book is a collection of short stories in Urdu by Sadath Hassan Manto.

Sadat Hassan Manto (May 11, 1912 – January 18, 1955) was a short story writer in the Urdu language. He is well known for 'Bu' (Odour), 'Khol Do' (Open It), 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat), and 'Toba Tek Singh'.

Saadat Hasan Manto was one of the best short story tellers of the 20th century and one of the most controversial, often compared to D.H. Lawrence, writing about the topics considered social taboos in Indo-Pakistani Society. His short stories are often intricately structured, with vivid satire and a good sense of humour.

Manto was also a film and radio scriptwriter, and journalist. He worked for All India Radio during World War II and was a successful screen-writer in Bombay before moving to Pakistan during the Partition of India. During his controversial two-decade career he published twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches. He still remains popular today over 50 years after his death.