Conversations with Dickens A Fictional Dialogue Based on Biographical Facts

I knew nothing before about the personal life of Charles Dickens, and thus this 'Conversation' was a quite informative read where I learned about his childhood (not always easy, but in a loving family), his start as a journalist, his love-life, his fight for international copyright, and his love for walking and also acting. The manner in which Dickens' answers are written really make you believe that it is this great author of the 19th century that is replying to the questions. The facts stated seem all very credible to me, even though they are a bit tedious at some points, e.g. when he talks about the quarrels with his publishers. It is also noted that Charles Dickens often did public readings of his works, that indeed it was not only a marketing gig to get people to buy his books but a very welcome source of income for Dickens. I didn't know that public readings by authors was popular already by that time.