Dickens family had relocated in the Marshalsea. His father was released in May 1824, but let Charles continue working for a few weeks more.

It was these months of humiliation and despair that were to have a profound impact on Charles Dickens. It was this experience that provided him with the relentless drive he was known for, and it was this experience that inspired the creation of the suffering children and victims of injustice so often found in his books.

Dickens studied for a few more years at Wellington House Academy, and then at age fifteen he became an office boy at the law firm of Ellis and Blackmore. Increasingly dissatisfied with this dull work, he eventually turned to journalism. By 1832 he was general reporter for the True Sun and also parliamentary reporter for his uncle's newspaper, the Mirror of Parliament. He also began writing fictional stories for London magazines. These stories attracted attention and in February 1836 a two volume collection was published named Sketches By Boz.

At the same time Dickens's first novel, Pickwick Papers (1836-1837) was being written. This coincided with his marriage to Catherine Hogarth. Catherine bore him ten children in fifteen years, but their relationship eventually deteriorated and they separated in 1858.

In the meantime, Pickwick Papers brought Charles Dickens fame. In the next eight years he produced five more novels, miscellaneous stories, and several Christmas books, most notable of which was A Christmas Carol, which was published in 1843 and quickly became one of the world's classics. His many books on various themes earned Dickens a reputation as a social reformer. His public, which he had once made laugh, he now made cry, especially with the death of little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop. The character of Nell was based on his sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth, who at age seventeen took ill and died in Dickens's arms. This sad memory was to haunt him till the end of his days.

By 1849 Dickens had slowed in writing, but was reaching the peak of his creative powers. Between 1849-1850 he wrote his most autobiographical novel, David Copperfield. This was followed by Bleak House (1852-1853), Hard Times (1854), and Little Dorrit (1855-1857). In Little Dorrit there is a fusion of the autobiographical and