The Holly Tree

7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870

Charles Dickens, was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era, and one of the most popular of all time. He created some of literature's most iconic characters, with the theme of social reform running throughout his work. The continuing popularity of his novels and short stories is such that they have never gone out of print. ([Source][1].) [1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

8 Jan 1824 – 23 Sep 1889

William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright and short story writer best known for *The Woman in White* (1859) and *The Moonstone* (1868). The last has been called the first modern English detective novel. Born to the family of a painter, William Collins, in London, he grew up in Italy and France, learning French and Italian. He began work as a clerk for a tea merchant. After his first novel, Antonina, appeared in 1850, he met Charles Dickens, who became a close friend and mentor. Some of Collins's works appeared first in Dickens's journals *All the Year Round* and *Household Words* and they collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins achieve…