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Why was David Copperfield Charles Dickens’s favorite novel?

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Portrait of Charles Dickens seated at a desk, writing with a quill pen, dressed in a suit with a bow tie. — Charles Dickens English novelist Charles Dickens working at his craft. Dickens published some of most beloved novels in English literature, including *A Christmas Carol*, *A Tale of Two Cities*, and *Great Expectations*.

David Copperfield (1849–50) was considered by Charles Dickens to be his "favourite child" primarily because of its deeply personal, semiautobiographical nature.12

The novel allowed Dickens to incorporate significant early life experiences that were meaningful to him, including his time working in a factory while his father was imprisoned for debt, his schooling, and his youthful passion for Maria Beadnell. By writing in the first person—a new technique for him at the time—Dickens was able to draw upon material from an abandoned autobiography to craft the narrative.12

Additionally, the book was celebrated for its "enchanting" childhood chapters, which critics noted captured a unique quality that Dickens had not achieved before and would not replicate in his later work. While the title character differs from his creator in many respects, the novel remains a poignant reflection of Dickens's own history and emotional development.21