John Costella
Charles Dickens spent most of his adult life in London whilst residing in locations which extended to every boundary of the Metropolis. Like Dickens, the author is passionate about London and in doing so has explored architectural and historical links together with sights and scenes, which the accomplished Victorian writer would have encountered in his quest to record the social depravation of London. With these thoughts in mind this book endeavors to track the many walks Dickens would have made, using an 1863 street map, in his quest to capture a library of characters for his literary works. In each of the ten walks the author has envisaged Dickens being an imaginary walking companion and hypothesized his comments regarding change. How would he react to a changing society which has evolved over the past 150 years and what opinions and arguments would this great Victorian novelist have when comparing his own creative era with that of the 21st century? To highlight certain places of interest on each walk, the author has included his own pen and ink illustrated sketches to provide a topographical and artistic account of each district in a manner that he feels Dickens would have approved of.
