Young David Copperfield is born to his recently widowed mother and almost immediately disowned by his only living relative Betsey Trotwood, who had wanted Mrs. Copperfield to have a girl. David has an enjoyable life with his mother and their cook-servant, Clara Pegotty. When he is seven however, he is sent off with Peggotty to visit her family at the seaside and returns that his mother has remarried, to the cruel Mr. Murdstone. He is almost immediately sent off to school, yet again a cold and intimidating place where he meets an older student, James Steerforth. He is summoned home to be told that his mother has died. (thetvdb.com)