In the winter of 1836, a young journalist named Charles Dickens held an infant in his arms. Only eight months of age, Ruby Spriggs was living under the most deplorable conditions that existed in London. Crushing poverty seemed her only future.  Through the intervention of kind patrons, the child blossoms into a young woman instilled with a love of learning and books. But the forces that Dickens fought against for most of his life threaten to destroy her.  An evocative historical novel, The Baker s Tale by Thomas Hauser is a both a fascinating look at the time period, but also a tale of corruption, power, and secrets.  Hauser’s spare prose, unadorned but for the scattered details that anchor the reader in a bygone age, delivers a tale true to its source of inspiration in the generous way it insists the good and pure-hearted will triumph over the wicked. —Publishers Weekly.