The real Oliver Twist

Available for over a year

While we all know the story of the boy forced to work in a mouldering Thames-side factory - there’s a side of the story, grounded in real life, that isn’t as well known. In ‘Oliver Twist & Me’ Nicholas Blincoe writes a dual biography of Dickens and his own great-great-great-grandfather Robert Blincoe, whose memoir supplied much of the source material for the famous author’s great novel of childhood. From London and Kent to the factories of Manchester, Blincoe retraces the steps of both men, along the way discovering the Camden workhouse that first inspired Dickens. BBC Radio London's Gary Kemp has been speaking to Nicholas to find out more.