Charles Dickens’s shortest novel, Hard Times presents a harsh appraisal of English society during the Industrial Revolution. Set in fictitious Coketown, Hard Times tells the story of Thomas Gradgrind and his children, Louisa and Tom, as they struggle to make their way in a changing England. Through the characters of Thomas, Louisa, and Tom, Dickens explores the divide between mill owners and workers during the Victorian era.

Hard Times was originally published serially in Dickens’s weekly periodical, Household Words, between April and August 1854. Considered the darkest of Dickens's novels, Hard Times has divided literary critics who have both lauded it for its exploration of Industrial-era society and criticized it for its skewed portrayal of trade unionism.

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