Forget the Christmas Carol postcard version of Charles Dickens. On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "English Connection" Podcast, Glynn Burrows digs into the real story — a childhood shaped by his father's debtor's prison, a stint in a blacking warehouse, and a writing career so prolific it basically invented the serialized soap opera decades before television existed.

Along the way, he digs into what Victorian England was really like for the poor, why Dickens' novels mattered as social record as much as entertainment, and the genuine mystery still surrounding his personal life — including a young actress named Ellen Ternan and a sister-in-law who moved in three years after his separation. Glynn also makes the case for why doing your own research matters, whether you're tracing Dickens' story or your own family history.

It all wraps up with where you can actually go in England today to walk in Dickens' footsteps — from his Portsmouth birthplace to his grave in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner — and a reminder that gratitude looks a little different once you know what people were living through less than 200 years ago.

📖 Read Glynn's article, "A Dickens Tour of England: From Portsmouth to Poets' Corner": https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/dickens-tour-of-england

🌐 Visit English Connection: https://EnglishConnection.uk

📚 Explore Glynn's English Connection Digital Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/english-connection-magazine

🎙️ Listen to more episodes: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/english-connection-podcast