It may have taken me a while, but I have now finished another epic from "the list" - David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, which I read in an audio format. This is the tale of a small boy, who loses his father at a very young age. He adores his mother and his nurse, Peggarty, but his life is really turned upside down when his mother remarries. His new step father is a nasty man, but his step aunt is even worse. David is sent away to school - a formative year where he meets James Steerforth (the charismatic head boy who takes a shine to David) and Tommy Traddles, who is a fellow outcast. But then his mother dies. Now at the mercy of his step father and aunt, David is sent to a new school ... a very different place altogether. All does not go well and he runs away, eventually heading to his real Aunt - Mrs Trottwood - who becomes his guardian and is an all round good egg. Young Davey's life is now much improved, and he forms strong bonds with Mr Peggarty, the brother of his old nurse, and Agnes, the daughter of the lawyer he boards with while at school in London. Time moves on and David becomes a young man, falls in love and marries the pretty, and, quite frankly, pretty vacant, Dora - what an irritatingly silly character! There are times of tragedy, times of joy and times of poverty. Really strong characters abound in this entertaining story - Uriah Heap (ever so humble) and Mr Micawber to name but two - but Mrs Trottwood was my absolute favourite. There is so much going on in this semi-autobiographical book that you do have to pay attention, but that is no bad thing. I felt that there could have been a bit of judicious editing towards the end of the book, which had a bit of a "strung out" feel to me. However, I would have no hesitation in recommending this tome - just make sure you give yourself the time it needs to get the most out of it.
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 768 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.99
Formats available: print, audio CD abridged, audio download unabridged, ebook.
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