Book title: David Copperfield 

Author: Charles Dickens

Unlike many of Dickens’ other novels, David Copperfield is written from the point of view of its ostensible character, seemingly looking back on the ups and downs of his long life.

The story begins with David’s childhood, which is an unhappy one. His father dies before he is born and his mother re-marries the frightful Mr. Murdstone, whose sister moves into their house soon after.

David is soon sent away to boarding school because he bit Murdstone when he was undergoing a beating.

At the boarding school, he meets a couple of boys who become friends: James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles.David doesn’t complete his education, because his mother dies and he’s sent to a factory. There, Copperfield meets Mr. Micawber, who is later sent to debtors’ prison.

At the factory, he experiences the hardship of the industrial-urban poor--until he escapes and walks to Dover to meet his aunt. She adopts him and brings him up (renaming him Trot).

After finishing his schooling, he goes to London to seek a career and meets James Steerforth and introduces him to his adoptive family.

At around this time, he also falls in love with a young girl, the daughter of a well-renowned solicitor. He also meets Tommy Traddles who is boarding with the Micawber’s, bringing the delightful but economically useless character back into the story.

In time, Dora’s father dies and she and David can be married. However, money is very short and David takes up various other jobs in order to makes ends meet including--like Dickens himself--fiction writing.

Things are not well with a friend from home — Mr. Wickfield. His business has been taken over by his evil clerk, Uriah Heep, who now has Micawber working for him as well. However, Micawber (along with his friend Tommy Traddles) determines to expose the bad dealings with which Heep has been taking part, and finally has him thrown out retuning the business to its rightful owner.

However, this triumph cannot be truly savored because Dora has become incredibly ill after losing a child. After a long illness she finally dies, and David travels to Switzerland for a number of months. While he’s travelling, he realizes that he is in love with his old friend, Agnes — Mr. Wickfield’s daughter. David returns home to marry her.