In the year before Arthur turns six­teen, his fam­i­ly’s finan­cial strug­gles force him to work extra shifts to pay the rent. Wak­ing before dawn, he main­tains a strict per­son­al hygiene rou­tine, wash­ing with dilut­ed vine­gar and cold water, despite the poor qual­i­ty soap pro­vid­ed by char­i­ty. The streets of Lon­don at these ear­ly hours are a somber sight, filled with beg­gars and those defeat­ed by life, one morn­ing reveal­ing a man who has frozen to death on the side­walk.

Hunger plagues Arthur dai­ly, often begin­ning with a sim­ple bread roll that he tries to accom­pa­ny with a bit of but­ter or a warm drink at a near­by stall. He takes small joys in bring­ing treats home for his moth­er and lit­tle broth­er, cling­ing to these moments to add mean­ing to his exis­tence. By night, the weari­ness from his labor pre­vents him from read­ing, leav­ing him devoid of dreams and hope. The mem­o­ry of his deceased broth­er weighs heav­i­ly on him, while fleet­ing moments of beau­ty, like the songs of gulls or the scent of roast­ing chest­nuts, offer him brief solace.

At the office one morn­ing, Arthur becomes engrossed in exam­in­ing illus­tra­tions for a poten­tial Eng­lish reprint of “The Works of Rabelais.” His admi­ra­tion for visu­al sto­ry­telling con­trasts with his self-doubt about his artis­tic abil­i­ties. Sud­den­ly, the door bursts open and a man, lat­er revealed to be Charles Dick­ens, rush­es in seek­ing Mr. Evans. Dick­ens express­es inter­est in pub­lish­ing with their firm but is soon remind­ed of Mr. Brad­bury’s pass­ing. The boy iden­ti­fies him­self as Mr. Brad­bury’s appren­tice, earn­ing Dick­ens’ atten­tion and heart­felt acknowl­edg­ment of Arthur’s poten­tial.

Their con­ver­sa­tion touch­es on Arthur’s unique per­cep­tive­ness and the chal­lenges faced by authors under oppres­sive pub­lish­ing con­tracts, with Dick­ens express­ing a desire to change his own sit­u­a­tion by propos­ing a part­ner­ship with Mr. Evans. Their agree­ment results in four suc­cess­ful nov­els being pub­lished, although their attempt to launch the “Dai­ly News” fails finan­cial­ly.

Months lat­er, Arthur meets a disheveled Dick­ens who brings an exot­ic treat from the Ottoman lands, reveal­ing more about the author’s per­son­al strug­gles amid rumors of his infi­deli­ty. As they talk, Arthur shares his aspi­ra­tion to vis­it Nin­eveh, and Dick­ens pro­vides him with a gift—tailored cloth­ing to help him expe­ri­ence the world beyond the lim­i­ta­tions of his upbring­ing. A let­ter accom­pa­ny­ing the gift encour­ages Arthur to seek out new hori­zons, hint­ing at a jour­ney that promis­es trans­for­ma­tion. Dick­ens, how­ev­er, soon van­ish­es into his tur­bu­lent per­son­al life, leav­ing Arthur with the hope of a brighter future that extends beyond London’s con­fines.

Wait­ing ai