A brilliant idea wonderfully executed. Charles Dickens wrote about places with the same immortal genius that he wrote about the people in those locations. They are inextricably linked as the cast, the action and the context combine with each other to entice and entrance the reader. Tony Lynch has organised an alphabetical tour of the locations that Dickens's wrote about and that were significant in his life and delivered a deeply engaging book. Each entry has just enough information about it, if it is an actual location it has the historical and current information. Where it is featured in any of Dickens's writings a carefully chosen quotation is provided. The book requires a familiarity with Dickens's works, sufficient biographical details are provided, the cast from the writing are named as familiar friends rather than signposts to literary learning.The alphabetical organisation solves a significant problem, it allows the biographical and the fictional to be treated equally and allows for multiple views of locations to be set up as they emerge under different guises.
The writing is informative and engaging, there is a considerable depth of research worn lightly as the locations are identified if still existing and given context if they have vanished. The biographical details are used to explain the relevance of a location, the quotes from the writing are used to spotlight the importance of context for Dickens. The balance in the book is confidently maintained, frequently a character is mentioned without a quote, the action is identified only. Sometimes extensive details are provided or longer quotes that given a strong reminder that Dickens wrote to be read.
Tony Lynch has taken an unexpected route to explore Charles Dickens and it is a joy and a pleasure to go along this tour, to revisit the stories in an unusual light and angle and be reminded of the astounding torrent of humanity that roam the locations of Dickens imagination.
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