Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings, the Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round

by Charles Dickens

"Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings" from Charles Dickens. English writer and social critic (1812-1870).

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Christmas, Literature, British Literature, Literary Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 1864

About the author

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.

Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.

Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.

On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Penny -Thecatladybooknook · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the small bit of Dickens that I have read, I can say his characters in these connected short stories (2 in this book) jump off of the page. There were bits and pieces of each stories that I liked (especially the heart-warming bits), but as a whole they were fine.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Charles Dickens's often overlooked tale of a huge-hearted landlady and her eccentric lodgers.

[Kirsti (Kris) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Dickens sure has a way with creating lovable characters 🥰

[Pages & Cup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite heartwarming. I read only the first and last chapters as part of the Dickens December reading group on Instagram. (Those are the chapters written by Dickens.) I will have to pick up the entire book later.

[Alley W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Mrs. Lirriper and all her stories about her lodgers. The beginning of the book is hard to read because it’s told in a first person point of view and Mrs. Lirriper runs on and on about her stories, but once you get passed that there is a lovely rhythm to this book.

[Sewingdervish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little hard to understand but delightfully Dickens.

[Samantha (A Dream of Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely, heart-warming story which exemplifies the importance of showing kindness and compassion to others.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining listening 🎶🔰

Another will written British 🏰 relationship family adventure thriller short story by Charles Dickens about a lady 🚺 who runs a lodging and the events that take place. I would recommend this novella to readers looking for a quick interesting read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye damage and health issues from shingles. Stay safe. 2022 👑🏰

[Sladjana Kovacevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

MRS. LIRRIPER'S LODGINGS-CHARLES DOCKENS
✒"Let us end with the Boy's story, Major, for the Boy's story is the best that is ever told!"
🛎Kratka,topla priča
🛎Gospođa Lirriper drži gostionicu u koju jednom stiže žena na samrti. Iza nje ostaje dečak.
🛎Ovo je priča o ljubavi koju nesebično pružamo onima u nevolji
🛎Ovo je priča o pričama i upoznavanju sveta kroz igru i uz pomoć mašte
#7sensesofabook #knjige #bookstagram #readingaddict #literature #classicliterature #dickens

[Jason Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Classics, and part of the debacle explained here.

3.5 rounded up to four.

I enjoyed this more than the other Dickens Christmas stories so far. That may be because I haven't read Dickens in a while, and getting back to him is always like meeting an old friend after an extended absence; I really appreciate his writing style. But I don't think that's all it was. There was also more story here than there was in a lot of the others.

It's sappy as hell, but that didn't bother me this time. Maybe it's because it involved a child, and I like kids' stories. Mrs. Lirriper rents out rooms and has one fulltime tenant. All the rest stay from a few days to a few months. At one point a couple who had just enjoyed a shotgun wedding came in. After a couple of months the husband was "called away for work" and was never seen again, and at this point we get to witness a classic Victorian mindset that often leaves modern readers confused. Dickens delicately explains that the girl was knocked up before they got married without actually stating any such thing. This is an admirable skill, but the reader needs to pay attention to follow what's going on. I totally missed it until later when the baby was born.

A line that threw me off was this: "...for a little extra colour rose into the Major's cheeks and there was irregularity which I will not particularly specify in a quarter which I will not name." I turned that around in my mind six ways to Sunday and couldn't make heads or tails of it. She's talking to the Major (her fulltime renter), and I have no inkling that the new wife is pregnant. Nothing in the preceding paragraph clued me in to that even when I reread it. "Irregularity in an unnamed quarter" made me think the Major must've popped an embarrassing boner, though I knew that couldn't possibly be the case. I thought Mrs. Lirriper was referring to the Major's irregularity and not the girl's. Later it all became clear, but I expect readers in the mid 19th century would've picked upon the pregnancy right away.

Being in a family way before one was married was a matter of deepest shame in Victorian times, but nowadays it's so common that a lot of people don't even remark on it. This leaves those of us immersed in modern sensibilities at a disadvantage, but it became clear by and by. She is so distraught after her husband leaves that she attempts suicide, but is saved and holds on to her sanity long enough to give birth to her child only to die of immense shame afterward. As silly as that seems to the modern reader, this is a common theme in Victorian times. Women were supposedly weak and delicate, and could take only so much. This might be hard to understand in an age where there's no dearth of real life heroines.

Mrs. Lirriper and the Major raise the child, and the rest of the story talks about how much they love him, and how much he loves them back, and at the end the boy (aged 10 or so) tells a story so saccharine that I think he served as the inspiration for half of Shirley Temple's roles. But I still didn't mind it. I guess I was in the mood for the feel-goods. I can really get into Shirley Temple's movies too.

My favorite part of this occurred near the beginning before any of the main action takes place. Mrs. L is discussing how much trouble she has with the help and relates one story of a serving girl who attacked one of lodgers. That part is a scream though it lasts only a couple of paragraphs.

I learned earlier this year that this story may have been written by Dickens and someone else. I don't know who the other was, but I didn't notice the writing style changing throughout. I thought I was going to feel cheated, but that didn't happen.

This is another one that doesn't happen at Christmastime but involves the Christmas spirit. If you like stories about people who love each other so much you could just die, and if you enjoy well written prose, then this is for you.

Fun Victorian/Dickensian word found in Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings and defined in What the Dickens?:

L.S.D.-ically

[Laura (Reading is a Doing Word) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and varied read. I read it as part of #DickensDecember2023 readalong for which the first and last chapters were chosen. However I wanted to read the interim chapters too and I'm glad I did as I enjoyed them all.
Tailended by Dickens himself, the middle chapters were contributed by various authors such as Elisabeth Gaskell and Charles Collins (Wilkie's brother).
The stories are structures around Mrs Lirriper and her boarding house, each chapter providing a story from each of the floors in the house. There is a slight Christmas theme to the final chapter but otherwise they provide a mixture of tales, from thwarted love to ghost stories.
A fun selection and one I wouldn't have discovered without this readalong!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I had read all of Dickens, but glad to find this short work. I will say it was a bit more difficult to follow than Dickens usually is - Mrs. Lirriper does ramble on, and I had to pay attention to follow her.

[Melissa Vinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Mrs. Lirriper’s Lodgings in a buddy read on Instagram. I didn’t have a physical copy on hand so I read the ebook and now I’m on a quest to find the physical book because as it turns out, this was a collaboration of several authors and we only read the two chapters that Charles Dickens wrote, the first and the last, or the bookend chapters as Laura says, which is not as weird as it might sound and actually worked very well, but still I think I’d like to read those middle chapters. Whew! That was a long sentence, wasn’t it? I think Charles Dickens is rubbing off on me! 😅

This was a sweet story of a found family, the kind of tale which I absolutely love! This tale about a kindhearted landlady and her lodgers has a heartwarming message and an emphasis on kindness and compassion to others, which is just perfect for this time of year.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very quick read as it has only two chapters though it is written in a very old-fashioned style. Charles Dickens wrote many good books and this snippet is typical of his style with long run-on sentences. The story is somewhat convoluted but concerns the raising of an adopted son who was born to young woman lodger who died in childbirth. The father was also a lodger who came to a unexpected end. I cannot say that I really enjoyed or got much out of this story,

[krysti bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Dickens!

This short story by the amazing writer Charles Dickens, left me with tears in my eyes. It started with humor, of course. But by the end the smiles were joined by sweet happy tears. I highly recommend this oft overlooked small contribution to our edification!!*

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a sweet story revolving around the propriety of a building where lodgers stay, an unexpected bay growing up into childhood, boyhood and youth. Quite a nondescript story, however, highly enjoyable, purely because it seems so un Dickens like with the story, style and ultimately content.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bit of a struggle. Just as well it was a short book!

I've never realised before how difficult it is to read a book with so little punctuation! I only kept going because it was a short book and so I knew the end was in sight!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the entirety of Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings today - including all the chapters by the various authors and really enjoyed it. I'm sort of bummed that we didn't make the entire novella a Dickens December read and not just the first and last chapter written by Dickens, but I suppose there is always next year.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much funnier than I expected, and now I’m reading the middle portions made up of stories by other authors that are meant to be Major Jackman’s accounts of the tenants. Such a fun concept. Read as part of Dickens December read-along.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Dickens December. I found it rather difficult to get into at the beginning but I enjoyed the little bit about how she helped poor Sophy and I loved how she and Major "Jemmy Jackman" handled the newly married couple...

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3.5 rating
This story begins with betrayal and death, but love is strong and able to overcome the sadness. That's all I want to say about the plot. It takes place in Mrs. Lirriper's Lodging, and is part of a series of books entitled Life and Its Battle. Enjoy!

[Susan Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was one of the first written by Charles Dickens and also the shortest. It is a fairly easy read although the language is a bit different then a lot of us are used to. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

[Gary Howes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read with a sad ending

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Dickens even though I sometimes find his writings a little difficult to read. It is always worth the time. This little cheerful story of a widow, her lodgers and an orphan is delightful.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice little story. It was sad, though, when the little boy's mother died.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, completely underrated piece of literary genius! It may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it!

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may have been better if I'd read all of the stories and not just the parts that Dickens wrote.
.
By the end, I wasn't even sure what I'd just read. The lack of punctuation really threw me.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this fun, short Dickens story! Mrs. Lirriper is a sweetheart. I loved the theme of found family, as well as her practical generosity. Typical Dickens charm!

[MaryAnn Lockey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where are our writers today that can write like this?

[a heart-shaped reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming, delightful, entertaining, lively..
I really liked hanging out with Mrs Lirriper..
she certainly knows how to turn a tragedy into a triumph..
a really sweet optimistic little story..