The classic novel about the French Revolution and its effect upon the lives of several individuals, both French and English.

"First published serially in 1840 -- 41 in Dickens' own magazine, Master Humphrey's Clock , and in book form in 1841, The Old Curiosity Shop was an immediate popular success. The heart-wrenching story of Little Nell and her doting grandfather offered a rich amalgam of misery and malice, goodness and generosity, love and loyalty -- all with a pervading veneer of sentimentality that greatly appealed to Victorian readers. As the story opens up, Nell...

The final novel by Charles Dickens, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", was unfinished at the time of his death in 1870. The novel revolves around John Jasper, choirmaster and opium addict, who is the guardian of his orphaned nephew Edwin Drood. Before the death of his parents, Edwin was promised to marry Rosa Bud, another orphan, but their affections have cooled upon reaching adulthood. Rosa has also attracted the affections of Jasper, her teacher, as...

"When it comes to walking the mean streets, Dickens could give modern genre authors the tour of their lives." -Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times When a corpse is found in the Thames River and identified as John Harmon, many lives will be forever changed. John, who had been abroad and estranged from his miserly father for years, will no longer collect his inheritance. It will instead go to the miser's employees, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, transforming...

A travelogue detailing Charles Dickens's tour of North America In January of 1842, Charles Dickens and his wife, Kate, traveled from Liverpool to Boston. At the time, Dickens had already attained a tremendous level of literary success and fame, and the author hoped his travels would help him gain insight into the New World that had captivated the English imagination. Over the ensuing 6 months, Dickens explored the East Coast and Great Lakes regions...

"Three classic novels of wealth, poverty, murder, and ambition from the greatest storyteller of the Victorian era. Filled with drama, emotion, and suspense, these three novels have compelled and delighted readers for well over a century. Martin Chuzzlewit : After losing his inheritance, a young man strives to make his own fortune, in this witty, wide-ranging saga. Nicholas Nickleby : A young man fights to save his mother, his sister, and a group of...

A distraught mother is forced to abandon her baby to a foundling hospital and begs to know the name that the authorities have given her child. She's told that his name is Walter Wilding, and upon her returns a dozen years later, it's Walter Wilding she adopts. Young Walter becomes a successful wine merchant and is content in his good fortune until his new housekeeper, a former nurse at the foundling hospital, confides a dark secret that brings his...

In 1844, Charles Dickens embarked on a year-long visit to Italy, where he turned his perceptive views of the human condition toward a thoughtful appraisal of the country's soul and character. Combining travelogue with social commentary, he formed a kaleidoscopic portrait of nineteenth-century Italian life as seen by an outsider. Rather than serving as a guidebook, his "pictures" from Italy entertain rather than instruct. Dickens' eye for detail and...

Inspired by the gory and sensational publications of the Victorian era, these tales collected by Charles Dickens and his staff between 1850 and 1855 features a beautifully engraved heading for every month In among the pages of Dickens' monthly supplement to Household Words lurks a very strange history. Under the headings of Narrative of Law and Crime and Narrative of Accident and Disaster may be found an astonishing catalog of terrible, grisly, and...

Known and loved around the world for his vast and sprawling novels, Charles Dickens relished the opportunity to experiment with his shorter writings, investigating hitherto unexplored themes and engaging in uncharacteristic narrative techniques. This anthology presents some of the beloved storyteller's lesser-known works, focusing on tales that reflect his fascination with the supernatural as well as his impressionistic sketches and dramatic monologues....