His grief over the death of his sister-in-law, Mary, probably served as the basis for the character, Little Nell, in his next novel, The Old Curiosity Shop. His readers followed the story closely especially when Nell became sick — many, desperately hoping she would not die, begged the publisher to spare her. Barnaby Rudge was Dickens' next novel, a historical novel set in England during the French Revolution.
In 1842, Dickens and his wife traveled through America. He found himself crushed with admirers to the point of feeling oppressed by his fame. In addition, the attitudes and vanity of some of the Americans disturbed him, especially with regard to slavery, and he was frustrated by the lack of copyright protection in the States — many of his works were being published there without any payment to him. When he returned home, Dickens wrote American Notes. While polite, Dickens' feelings about America were nevertheless obvious. American critics were, as you may expect, hostile.
His next works were a series of five Christmas stories, of which "A Christmas Carol" was the most successful. Martin Chuzzlewit, a more direct attack on America and its attitudes, followed. Dickens also spent time creating and editing a newspaper, the Daily News, and acting in a number of amateur theater productions. At this same time, he had a number of flirtations with other women and his marriage was crumbling. Concentration and sleep suffered, so much so that his seventh novel, Dombey and Son, took a great deal of time and struggle to finish. However, the slower pace didn't diminish the quality of Dickens work: Philip Collins called Dombey and Son Dickens' "first mature masterpiece."
