Charles Dickens the lower reaches of the Thames, all aspects of the capital are described over the course of his body of work. Authors frequently draw their portraits of characters from people they have known in real life. "David Copperfield" is regarded by many as a veiled autobiography of Dickens. The scenes of interminable court cases and legal arguments in "Bleak House" reflect Dickens's experiences as a law clerk and court reporter, and in particular his direct experience of the law's procedural delay during 1844 when he sued publishers in Chancery for breach of copyright. Dickens's father was sent to prison for
Catherine Dickens death is fictionalised as the death of Little Nell. Catherine's younger sister, Georgina Hogarth, joined the Dickens fam household in 1842 when Dickens and Catherine sailed to America, caring for the young family they had left behind. In 1845 Charles Dickens produced the amateur theatrical "Every Man in his Humour" for the benefit of Leigh Hunt. In a subsequent performance, Catherine Dickens, who had a minor role, fell through a trap door injuring her ankle. In 1851, as 'Lady Maria Clutterbuck', Catherine Dickens published a cookery book, "What Shall we Have for Dinner? Satisfactorily Answered by Numerous Bills of Fare