Dr Helena Kelly presents a radical retelling of Charles Dickens' life story based on newly accessible archives, revealing a jarring alternative legacy of secret relatives, plagiarism, and dishonesty

7.00pm-9.00pm Fort Road Bar

In her new book, The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens, Dr Helena Kelly finds that there's far more to the real biography of Britain's most-loved classic novelist than the received, Dickens-approved version of events that we're familiar with.

From a secret sister, to Jewish relations whose faith he tried to conceal, to alleged plagiarism, fraud and suicide, Kelly describes a flawed man at odds with his own public-facing facade.