- Published: 28 June 2010
- ISBN: 9780141195209
- Imprint: Penguin Press
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 364
- RRP: $14.99
Hard Times: Popular Penguins
Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and his family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from young adult minds. As a consequence his obedient daughter Louisa marries the loveless businessman and 'bully of humanity' Mr Bounderby, and his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in gambling and robbery.
Filled with the details and wonders of small-town life, Hard Times is a daring novel of ideas - and ultimately, a celebration of love, hope, and the limitless possibilities of the imagination.
- Published: 28 June 2010
- ISBN: 9780141195209
- Imprint: Penguin Press
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 364
- RRP: $14.99
Other books in the series
About the author
Charles Dickens was born in Hampshire on February 7, 1812. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office, who was well paid but often ended up in financial troubles. When Dickens was twelve years old he was send to work in a shoe polish factory because his family had been taken to the debtors' prison. His career as a writer of fiction started in 1833 when his short stories and essays began to appear in periodicals. The Pickwick Papers, his first commercial success, was published in 1836. The serialisation of Oliver Twist began in 1837. Many other novels followed and The Old Curiosity Shop brought Dickens international fame and he became a celebrity in America as well as Britain. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
