Hunted Down: The Detective Stories of Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by Charles Dickens. The novel was left unfinished at the time of Dickens' death, and his intended ending for it remains unknown. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, the story focuses on Drood's uncle, choirmaster John Jasper, who is in love with his pupil, Rosa Bud. Miss Bud is Drood's fiancée who has also caught the eye of the high-spirited and hot-tempered Neville Landless, who comes from Ceylon with his twin sister, Helena. Landless and Drood take an instant dislike to one another. Drood later disappears under mysterious circumstances. Dickens died before he could finish the mystery. The story is set in Cloisterham, a lightly fictionalised Rochester, and feelingly evokes the atmosphere of the town as much as its streets and buildings...

The Old Curiosity Shop

On a blustery winter afternoon in 1840, crowds flooded the docks of the New York and Boston harbors. For months, Victorian audiences had followed the orphan Little Nell's adventures in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop as she and her beloved grandfather fled the moral and material ravages of London and the machinations of the villainous dwarf, Quilp. Calling wildly to the English ship carrying the next installment of The Old Curiosity Shop, the devoted readers breathlessly demanded the fate of the novel's heroine. For today's reader, The Old Curiosity Shop not only illustrates a poverty that looks uncannily familiar, but forges a heroism from the small acts of caring that make modern life meaningful. The most popular of Dickens' novels in his lifetime, it remains both a page-turner and a masterpiece.

The Battle of Life

Curl up with this heartwarming tale of redemption from the master of the happy ending, Charles Dickens. A great read at Christmas-time or whenever you could use some uplifting lighter fare, The Battle of Life is a fast-paced tale that you'll finish with a smile on your face and renewed faith in the inherent goodness of humanity.

Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens. The novel centres on the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies. Nicholas Nickleby is Charles Dickens' third published novel. He returned to his favourite publishers and to the format that was considered so successful with The Pickwick Papers. The story first appeared in monthly parts, after which it was issued in one volume. The style is considered to be episodic and humorous, though the second half of the novel becomes more serious and tightly plotted. Dickens began writing 'Nickleby' while still working on Oliver Twist and while the mood is considerably lighter, his depiction of the Yorkshire school run by Wackford Squeers is as moving and influential as those of the workhouse and criminal underclass in Twist. 'Nickleby' marks a new development in a further sense as it is the first of Dickens' romances. When it was published the book was an immediate and complete success and established Dickens's lasting reputation. The cruelty of a real Yorkshire schoolmaster named William Shaw became the basis for Dickens's brutal character of Wackford Squeers. Dickens visited his school and based the school section of Nicholas Nickleby on his visit. Like most of Dickens' early works, the novel has a contemporary setting. Much of the action takes place in London, with several chapters taking place in Dickens' birthplace of Portsmouth, as well as settings in Yorkshire and Devon. The tone of the work is that of ironic social satire, with Dickens taking aim at what he perceives to be social injustices. Many memorable characters are introduced, including Nicholas' malevolent Uncle Ralph, and the villainous Wackford Squeers, who operates an abusive all-boys boarding school at which Nicholas temporarily serves as a tutor.

Martin Chuzzlewit

The last of Dickens' picaresque novels which exposes selfishness, portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family. The novel was written after taking a year off during which Charles Dickens visited America. Similarly, young Martin Chuzzlewit, the old man's grandson, goes off to America to live through events which Dickens himself perhaps experienced or observed during his own travels.

Hard Times

Longman's new Cultural Editions Series, Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, edited by Jeff Nunokawa, includes Books 1-3 of Hard Times and contextual materials on the age of Dickens.