The inspiration for the film starring Dev Patel: A sprawling masterpiece about a boy making his way to manhood in nineteenth-century England. David Copperfield's father died before he was born, but he grew up loved and comfortable-until he turned seven and his mother married Edward Murdstone. His new stepfather could not banish little Davy fast enough, sending him to live with the housekeeper, Peggotty, and her fisherman brother. Murdstone growing...