Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens

Dicken's Best - Advantages: In-depth characters, Rollercoaster of emotions, A good ending - Disadvantages: A very long book, Language is sometimes hard to understand

This is the tale of the Nickleby family, who fall on hard times. They are at the mercy of the “wicked uncle”, Ralph Nickleby, who is mean and bitter. Nicholas, the hero of the story, is a young man of great honour and high ideals. He accepts his uncle’s offer of a post as tutor at Dotheboys Hall, a school in Yorkshire. Here we meet the wonderfully grotesque Wackford Squeers, the headmaster. His only thought is to take money from the families of the unfortunate boys placed at his establishment, and they are half-starved and ill-treated. Nicholas stands up for the boys, and eventually leaves in the company of the sad and pathetic Smike. ...  Read the complete review