Nicholas Nickleby

When young Nicholas Nickleby’s father dies in poverty, he must turn to his wealthy uncle for help to support his mother and sister. The uncle reluctantly assists Nicholas in obtaining a poorly paid job as an assistant to the unscrupulous headmaster Wackford Squeers, who runs a school for disadvantaged children. Nicholas quickly realizes that all is not well at the school and attempts to hold Squeers accountable. Nicholas Nickleby is a classic coming-of-age novel about finding one’s place in the adult world. In typical Dickens fashion, it is filled with extraordinary and eccentric characters while simultaneously criticizing societal injustices. CHARLES DICKENS [1812–1870], born in Portsmouth, England, was the most popular English-language novelist of his time. He created a fictional world that reflected the social and technological changes during the Victorian era. Among his most famous works are David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and The Pickwick Papers.