The first edition of VFTD was published in April 2012 and this
month marks the 70th time we have sat down together, compared notes
and decided what we would like to write. Our '
library' of past issues has increasingly become a useful
reference source for us and our attention this month was drawn to
edition 49, titled
Shakespeare in the Twittersphere. Our link here, we must
confess, is somewhat tenuous, insofar as it is another great
British writer to have inspired us this time; instead of William
Shakespeare, we have turned to Charles Dickens and his novel Great
Expectations.
The story – first published in December 1860 –
introduces the reader to a host of memorable individuals such as Mr
Jaggers, Able Magwitch, Miss Havisham and Estella; all of whom
influence the life of the central character, Philip Pirrip,
otherwise known as Pip. The period of the novel was a time of
change; England was expanding worldwide and becoming a wealthy
regional power. The economy was
