Pulitzer Prize Winning American novelist Jane Smiley is an essayist, scholar and fan of legendary writer, Charles Dickens. In 2002 she wrote "Charles Dickens : a life", a contemporary biography and analysis of how Charles Dickens' life influenced his characters and literary works.
She has created a portrait of Dickens as lively as the characters he created - particularly interesting is his attention to their nuances of speech which brings them to life.