Showing results by author "Charles Dickens"" in All Categories

Assembled and edited by Julian Hawthorne and first published in 1907, the Old Time English volume of The Lock and Key Library features ten classic mysteries and ghost stories by Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Thomas de Quincey, Charles Robert Maturin, Laurence Sterne, and William Makepeace Thackeray. This volume of The Lock and Key Library is sure to haunt and charm fans of ghost and detective mysteries alike.

Orphan Oliver Twist is born into the grimmest of 19th century English workhouses and had little but a life of grinding poverty ahead of him. But he’s a fighter and after being evicted from the workhouse for asking for 'more' and surviving a stint as an undertaker’s assistant, he hopes to change his circumstances so walks to London where he meets Artful Dodger, a member of a pickpocketing gang, and their leader, Fagin.

Oliver Twist is the well-loved tale of an orphan, who starts life in a workhouse and finds himself embroiled in London's criminal underworld, before being saved by a kind gentleman who knows something of his surprising family history. A satire and social commentary as well as a page-turning yarn, full of grit, wit, and some of the most memorable characters in English Literature. The second published serialised novel by Charles Dickens, The British Library remarks that "it has proven to be one of the best-loved novels in the history of literature".

Classic Tales Of Horror offers up fifteen slices of powerful story-telling from the world's great mystery & classic horror authors. From Henry James and Ambrose Bierce to Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens. Read by John Waite (BBC Radio 4), Sarah Douglas (Superman I & II), Michael Fenton-Stevens (Spitting Image, KYTV, Hitch-Hiker's Guide) and Ben Onwukwe (London's Burning, Othello).

One of Dicken’s best works appraising English society. Highlights the social and economic pressures of the times. A masterwork.

When orphan Pip meets the escaped convict Magwitch in an overgrown churchyard on the Kent marshes, little does he know that the incident will change his life forever. Some years later, now apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, Pip falls in love with the beautiful Estella. Her half-crazed...

Left penniless by the death of his father, nineteen-year-old Nicholas Nickleby seeks help, along with his mother and sister, from Uncle Ralph Nickleby. The hard-hearted money lender takes an instant dislike to his nephew and gets rid of the boy by securing him a teaching position at Dotheboys...

Born to an unmarried woman who dies after giving birth, orphan Oliver Twist seems destined to slog through a dismal life in the workhouse. A rebellious cry for more gets Oliver banished, and ultimately lands him on the dismal streets of London. The young outcast finds refuge with Fagin and his band of thieves before fate intervenes and puts Oliver in the hands of a kindly benefactor. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child labourer contributed to the story's development.

Listen as David recounts the experiences of his rise to successful novelist - his wretched boyhood , the drudgery of his various jobs, his marriage to the boss’ pretty daughter, his flight to the continent, and finally, a reunion with his true love. Tull’s marvelously resonant voice ushers us smoothly through young David’s trials. His ability to move deftly between different accents gives new life to some of the best-known characters in all of literature.

Wealthy and old, Martin Chuzzlewit, Sr. is surrounded by greedy relatives hoping to obtain a portion of his estate upon his death. Of his two descendants, born and bred in the same heritage of selfishness, one, Martin Jr., has the good fortune to transform, while the other, Jonas, does not and receives a fatal penalty.

Dickens called David Copperfield his "favourite child," and many critics consider the novel to be one of his best depictions of childhood. Set in early Victorian England against a backdrop of great social change, Dickens acutely observed the phenomena of the Industrial Revolution and used them as the canvas on which he painted the novel. Many consider David Copperfield to be the author’s finest work.

A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens' novel depicts Pip's development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his 'great expectations'.

Experience the rarely seen spiritual side of Charles Dickens in the audio edition of The Life of Our Lord: With a New Afterword and Notes, edited and narrated by Tim Dalgleish, and published by Wonky Octopus Press. Originally written for his children, Dickens’ personal retelling of the Gospels reveals the moral convictions that shaped his literary genius. This unique audiobook features the foreword by Dickens’ daughter, Mamie, the original American edition foreword, and a new afterword by Tim Dalgleish.

The Pickwick Papers was Dickens' first novel. Retired businessman and confirmed bachelor Mr. Samuel Pickwick, Esquire, embarks on a journey through the English countryside accompanied by three fellow "Pickwickians": Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Winkle. It is a joy to hear of their misadventures in search of stories and characters of interest and the repeated efforts of the quick-witted Sam Weller (Mr. Pickwick's manservant) to rescue them all from disaster.

The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his adventures on Christmas Eve continue to teach an important lesson, even to this day. Author Charles Dickens introduces us to the main character by painting him in a negative light, a selfish and miserly old man who will barely pay enough money to keep his office heated. When Scrooge returns home after work, the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him and tells him that because of the wrongdoing he had done during his life, he has been condemned to walk in his ghost years shackled....

Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby performed by his great-great-grandson Gerald Dickens. A tale that brings to life the adventures of Nicholas Nickleby as he meets the wicked Wackfors Squeers, the theatrical Crumbles, and the cheerful Cheerybyle Brothers (to name a few). Complete and unabridged.

The Old Curiosity Shop follows the story of Little Nell who lives with her grandfather in his magical shop of curiosities in London. Her grandfather's attempts to secure an inheritance for Nell lead them into financial trouble with the evil dwarf Quilp. Nell manages to flee and lead her grandfather to safety, but with considerable cost to her health.

Dickens never employed greater skill or more consummate craftsmanship on any other of his works than he did on A Tale of Two Cities, his magnificent historical novel set during the turbulent era marking the end of Louis XVI's reign. His passionate portrayal of the lives of two groups, one English, one French, caught up in the net of revolutionary intrigue and cruelty, has never been equalled. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy.

Held to be Dickens' finest novel, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon. Memorable characters include the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, the friendly, but depressive John Jarndyce, and the childish and disingenuous Harold Skimpole, as well as the likeable but imprudent Richard Carstone. A suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th-century English legal system. This novel set the standard for modern day legal thrillers.

Born in a workhouse and sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker, young orphan Oliver Twist escapes and travels through London. While on his adventure, he meets Jack Dawkins, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. Caught in a life of immorality, Oliver finds himself taken away by a kind gentleman who leads him to a life he had never anticipated for himself.