Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations

Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations — page 3
When Charles looked back on his childhood these were the happy years They lived in a snug brick row house in Chatham east of London It had a little garden and across the road there was a meadow where the children could play He was in the care of his beloved nursemaid Mary Weller who comforted his childish sorrows She also terrified him with blood curdling horror stories that he adored though they gave him nightmares He spent wonderful hours in his little attic room reading from his father's set of novels He went for days imagining himself to be one of his storybook heroes Robinson Crusoe Roderick Random or Peregrine Pickle He and his older sister Fanny went to a day school run by a scholar named William Giles who recognized Charles's intelligence and imagination and gave him special attention He had a group of school friends who all wore white beaver hats and called themselves Giles's Cats Together they played carefree boisterous games and explored Chatham and nearby Rochester with its grand cathedral and ruined castle They went rowing in the summer and skating in the winter