In 1835, Dickens is working as a journalist and publishing stories wherever and whenever he can. He's still in love with Maria but she seems to think less of him. Dickens drowns his sorrows at the ale house and falls into the arms of local prostitute Desdemona. Although under a pseudonym, Dickens begins to gather a following. His first book nets £150, much to his spendthrift father's joy. The money doesn't last long, however, as the elder Dickens is once again arrested.

Dickens is doing quite well with a new illustrator for 'The Pickwick Papers', which is proving a great success. Meanwhile, Kate is pregnant, expecting their first child. A dream about an orphan boy leads Dickens to write 'Oliver Twist'. He researches the subject thoroughly, visiting prisons and following a jailer's suggestion that such boys are often pickpockets. In many ways, it reminds him of his own youth.