Who is generally considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian era?

Some of the world's best known literary characters (Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Samuel Pickwick) were created by Charles John Huffam Dickens, a renowned English writer and critic. Dickens is often referred to as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, who showed all the essence of the epoch in his brilliant literary works. Dickens' works were unprecedentedly popular during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars from all over the world had recognized him as a true literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity nowadays.