As a student at St Hugh’s College, Oxford in the early ’90s, I had the privilege to attend lectures by John Carey and Kathleen Tillotson, where I was introduced more widely to the wonders of Dickens’ canon. It was my tutor, the brilliant Dr Isobel Rivers, who first said to me, “To understand Dickens, you have to understand the Blacking Factory”. She made me see that the terrified young boy who had been forced to work in a factory when his father was thrown into debtor’s prison is present in all of Dickens’ fiction. He is also at the very heart of Another Twist in the Tale – he is the germ from which this story began. The tragedy that thousands of such children exist around the world today, working in sweatshops, many in conditions of modern slavery, is something I hope the book might make young readers think about.
Over the years I have had the privilege to teach Dickens to dozens (possibly hundreds?) of amazing pupils – largely Great Expectations but latterly Bleak House and Hard Times. I’m not going to lie, Dickens can be a hard sell at GCSE. At first, the language can seem impenetrable, the plots confusing and convoluted (examiners might like to think whether Hard Times is really a novel calculated to foster a life-long love of Dickens in 15 year olds!). But – oh, we had a lot of fun along the way, and I like to think that all my lovely pupils past and present came – eventually (begrudgingly?) – to a love of Dickens’ brilliance (or – in the case of my current GCSE group – that you might do so when these pesky exams are over – Good Luck, my wonderful ones!). So, this book is a big thank you to you all – you have all inspired me, made me laugh, made me think, made me see things anew and afresh and through the lens of different generations – and this book is dedicated to you! They were Hard Times but they were ever the Best of Times, eh kids!
It is also dedicated to the members of the King Edward’s School Creative Writing Society, where the idea for this novel popped into my head whilst we were writing stories inspired by Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife. Especial thanks to Netta Claydon, who switched the lightbulb in my head with a passing comment (and who is, and always was, a far greater writer than I can ever hope to be!). Thank you to all the young writers of CWS, past and present – you keep me on my toes as I try to keep up with your brilliance!
I owe a huge debt to the colleagues I have had the privilege to work with over the years in the English and Drama Departments of Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls, Francis Holland Girls’ School, St Paul’s Girl’s School and King Edward’s School, Bath, who have inspired and challenged me and whose intellectual companionship and inspiring example has immeasurably enriched my writing – but also my life.
I am so grateful to the various academics and institutions who helped me with this novel: to Philip Thorne, editor of the utterly invaluable Penguin Classic edition (I fell a little in love with your appendices!); Dr Paul Schlicke, editor of The Oxford Companion to Charles Dickens; Professor Michael Slater; Dr Sara Malton; Elizabeth Velluet and Dr Tony William (The Dickens Fellowship); Lee Jackson, author of Walking Dickens’ London; the staff and curators of the Charles Dickens Museum; and the amazing Ben from the Twists and Turns: The Places that Inspired Oliver Twist Walking Tour (www.benscitytours.com) who took me in the footsteps of young Oliver and brought Dickensian London to life. I am hoping that Dickens scholars the world over will forgive any deviations from Dickens’ original, and that you will take them in the spirit of Dickensian playful inventiveness in which they are intended. I also hope you will appreciate my attempt to translate the energy of Dickens’ prose style and the gloriousness of his language for a younger audience. I didn’t want to dumb-down for them, but I did want to make it accessible enough to make them want to pick up one of the originals. I like to think that Mr Dickens himself, if he has been watching over my enterprise, will have done so with a wry smile of amusement, occasional chuckles at my temerity, and knowing that this is very much a homage to his work – a ‘gateway to Dickens’ which I hope may be the first step on a magical reading journey for many young bookworms.
As always I am hugely indebted to my wonderful agent Caroline Montgomery, whose insight, wisdom and friendship I value so dearly, and to everyone at Nosy Crow, particularly my amazing editor Tom Bonnick, who is wise, wonderful, bold and brilliant!
But most of all to my wonderful family – wide and small, inlaws and outlaws – especially Jonny, Joe and Elsie (who actually reads my books and whose impeccable taste I defer to in all matters!). Thanks for putting up with me, and I love you all!
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2020 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place
Crosby Row, London, SE1 1YW, UK
www.nosycrow.com
ISBN: 978 1 78800 5 999
eISBN: 978 1 78800 6 316
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Catherine Bruton, 2020
Cover and inside illustration copyright © Thy Bui, 2020
The right of Catherine Bruton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
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