With the delectable wit, unforgettable characters, and challenging themes that have won her a Pulitzer Prize and national bestseller status, Jane Smiley finds a kindred spirit in the author of classics such as Great expectations and A Christmas carol. As "his novels shaped his life as much as his life shaped his novels," Smiley's Charles Dickens is at once a sensitive profile of the great master and a fascinating meditation on the writing life. Smiley...

Presents a short biography of the author of "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White," two early masterpieces of mystery and detection. Short and oddly built, with a head too big for his body, extremely nearsighted, unable to stay still, dressed in colorful clothes, Wilkie Collins looked distinctly strange. But he was nonetheless a charmer, befriended by the great, loved by children, irresistibly attractive to women--and avidly read by generations...

Describes the scandal that followed the author through the last years of his life concerning an affair with a young actress that broke up his marriage and how the details surrounding the incident have flourished and grown over time.