Charles Dickens was the first, or one of the first, authors to be extremely popular in his lifetime. He married in his mid-twenties, and he and his wife had 10 children over about 20 years. At 47 he fell in love with the daughter of an actress, Ellen Ternan, age 17, and tried to keep her a secret for the rest of his life. He and his children remained in his main residence, with his sister-in-law as homemaker, and he bought a home for his wife, one for his mistress and her mother, and yet another near his mistress where he could write. While returning from a visit to France, Dickens, Ellen, and her mother shared a compartment that was minimally damaged in a horrifically deadly train wreck. This traumatic wreck affected CD for years to come, and mysterious activities related to it are the basis of this book. The story is narrated by Wilkie Collins, fellow author and opium addict. You will probably like this book if you are a fan Dan Simmons, of Dickens or Collins' works, or of creepy stories based in Victorian London. I liked other of this author's books -- my favorite being Black Hills, which is the most reality-based book of his that I've read. I've also read The Terror, and Drood is more like that tale.
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