David Copperfield (1849-50) was Dickens's favourite novel: 'Of all my books', he wrote, 'I like the the best.' Strikingly autobiographical in its childhood scenes, it relates David's history from birth to young manhood, and the host of characters he meets on his journey of self-knowledge: MrMicawber, the Peggottys, Betsey Trotwood, Steerforth and Uriah Heep among them.Paul Bailey was born and still lives in London. He is a novelist and writer whose books include Gabriel's Lament (1986), Sugar Cane (1993), The Oxford Book of London (1995), and Kitty and Virgil: a romance (1998).
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