Little Nell Trent lives in the quiet gloom of the old curiosity shop with her ailing grandfather, for whom she cares with selfless devotion. But when they are unable to pay their debts to the stunted, lecherous and demonic money-lender Daniel Quilp, the shop is seized and they are forced to flee, thrown into a shadowy world in which there seems to be no safe haven. Dickens's portrayal of the innocent, tragic Nell made The Old Curiosity Shop an instant bestseller that captured the hearts of the nation, even as it was criticised for its sentimentality by figures such as Oscar Wilde. Yet alongside the story's pathos are some of Dickens's greatest comic and grotesque creations: the ne'er-do-well Dick Swiveller, the mannish lawyer Sally Brass, the half-starved 'Marchioness' and the lustful, loathsome Quilp himself. Colour plates.
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A unique presentation of Dickens' classic tale of Scrooge and his reformation at the hands of the ghosts of Jacob Marley and Christmases Past, Present and Future. Illustrated by Peter Fluck and Roger Law, this is the complete text of Dickens original work. -
As a boy, Pip Pirrip helps escaped convict Magwitch. Later, to his surprise, he is chosen as a companion to Estelle, the adopted niece of the eccentric Miss Havisham. Some years later Pip finds himself very suddenly elevated from blacksmith's apprentice to a young man of means, with a very good education in view and no clue as to who his mysterious benefactor may be. Filled with wonderful Dickens characters: Joe Gadgery, the simple blacksmith, the mad Miss Havisham clad in the tatters of her wedding gown amid the ruin of her once-grand house, the sinister Magwitch, the perpetually upbeat Samuel Pockets and Samuel's equally upbeat Aged Parent. This edition that contains the two endings that Dickens had determined for Pip. -
Dickens wrote five Christmas Books in all, the first and best known being A Christmas Carol. The Cricket On The Hearth is third in the series but probably the second favourite in line. The Cricket of the title is a barometer of life at the home of John Peerybingle and his much younger wife, Dot. When things go well, the cricket on the hearth chirps; it is silent when there is sorrow. Tackleton, a jealous old man, poisons John's mind about Dot. The cricket, a creature long credited in many cultures with supernatural abilities, has his work cut out for him to detoxify good John's mind of the horrible suspicions the repulsive old Tackleton has sown. Illustrated by Gordon Robinson. -
Edwin Drood is contracted to marry orphan Rosa Bud when he comes of age, but when they find that duty has gradually replaced affection, they agree to break off the engagement. Shortly afterwards, in the middle of a storm on Christmas Eve, Edwin disappears, leaving nothing behind but some personal belongings and the suspicion that his jealous uncle John Jasper, madly in love with Rosa, is a murderer. Beyond this presumed crime there are further intrigues: the dark opium dens of the sleepy cathedral town of Cloisterham, and the sinister double life of Choirmaster Jasper, whose drug-fuelled fantasy life belies his respectable appearance. Dickens died before completing The Mystery of Edwin Drood, leaving its tantalising mystery unsolved and encouraging successive generations of readers to turn detective. Illustrated by C.E. Montford. -
It wouldn't be Christmas without Charles Dickens - the man who invented Christmas as we know it today. In this one volume are his three famous Yuletide tales. A Christmas Carol, the tale of the miserly Scrooge and the visitations that came on Christmas Eve to change his life, was written in 1840, red hot from his imagination. The Chimes is the tale of Trotty Veck the messenger and his daughter, and how they came to have faith and hope as the bells rang an old year out and a new year in; The Cricket on the Hearth records the fortunes of the cheerful home of John Peerybingle and his wife Dot. When the cricket chirps, all is well; but when it is silent, there is darkness and trouble coming. Dot is grateful for the cricket's presence and feels comforted when she can hear it for the Victorian age believed that when a cricket chose to move in, the home would always be a happy, loving one. Illustrated by Howard Simon. -
Dombey is a proud, stern and unfeeling man obsessed with his son, longing for the day that his shipping firm will one day bear the name Dombey and Son. This single-minded ambition, granted... then cruelly taken away, leads Dombey through tragedy, bitterness and separation from his staunch daughter Florence and others who he has wronged and who nevertheless have endeavoured to love him. -
The French Revolution - a time of great change and great danger; a time when injustice was met by a blood-lust for vengeance - and rarely was a distinction made between the innocent and the guilty. This tumultuous historical event is the setting for Dickens' story of unsurpassed adventure and courage. Unjustly imprisoned for 18 years in the Bastille, Dr. Alexandre Manette is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, and safely transported from France to England. It would seem that they could take up the threads of their lives in peace. As fate would have it, the pair are summoned to the Old Bailey to testify against a young Frenchman - Charles Darnay - falsely accused of treason. Yet - strangely enough - Darnay bears an uncanny resemblance to the dissolute lawyer's clerk, Sydney Carton. Can this resemblance save Darnay? Brilliantly plotted, a story rich in drama, romance and bravery.