To some extent

David Copperfield was an autobiographical novel based on the life of the author

Charles Dickens

the author talked about his miserable boyhood and bitter experience in the novel which he had never talked to others before; it was the autobiographical elements in the story made this book get fame and loved by generations of readers. At the same time

this book became a vent for Dickens to his pent-up emotions

the author got mental release and psychological compensation by writing the novel.