Journalist and travel writer Hilary Macaskill focuses on the places Dickens lived and the many cities he traveled to. Macaskill posits that the intense interest that Dickens took in arrangements of his own home is reflected in the attention to detail that he lavished on his literary works. Her book also investigates the locations Dickens visited on his speaking tours as well as the areas in which his houses were located, and how these informed the plotlines and characters of his books.