Anticipation

I am squeakily excited about Claire Tomalin's forthcoming biography of Dickens - her book on Samuel Pepys is one of my favourite reads of the past two years.

In anticipation, I am reading both my first Dickens since 'A Christmas Carol' as a kid (Great Expectations) and Tomalin's own first biography, of Mary Wollstonecraft. Also in anticipation, the Guardian has gone on a Dickens/Tomalin spree, including:

• Rachel Cooke's interview with Tomalin
• A piece by Tomalin on Dickens, and specifically one small episode from early in his life
• A 'My favourite Dickens' series
• A set of sketches of famous characters (although why must everything you can click on these days be termed 'interactive'?)