New Releases by Charles Dickens

The Chimes A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol. It is the second in his series of Christmas books five short books with strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840''s.

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is one of the finest novels of Charles Dickens but the novel could not be completed by Dickens because he kissed death before the completion of the novel. Charles Dickens''s final, unfinished novel, and one that has puzzled readers and inspired writers since its publication, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is edited with an introduction by David Paroissien in Penguin Classics. The identity of the murderers in the novel is still a matter of debate. Though the name of the novel is inspired by the character of Edwin Drood but the story actually revolves around Edwin''s uncle Mr. John Jasper who falls in love with his pupil who is also Edwin''s fiancé. Rosa Bud; Edwin''s fiancé also catches the attention of Neville Landless who comes with his twin sister Helena from Ceylon. Neville is madly in love with Rose and the result is as anyone can possibly expect; both Neville and Edwin become enemies. The story takes an unexpected turn when Edwin disappears under mysterious circumstances. Before Edwin goes missing, a lot of things happen which consequently ends in a mystery which is unsolved till date because of the death of Dickens. Edwin and Rose are madly in love with each other and they are not bothered about the fact that Edwin''s uncle and Neville re madly in love with Rose. Mr. Grewgious gives Edwin the ring which Rose''s father gave to her mother and now Edwin makes Rose wear the ring. They are too much in love to notice what is going around them. One fine day Rosa, Edwin and Neville meet at a party and Edwin casually goes to a nearby shop. There he meets a mysterious woman who asks his name. When he says that his name is Edwin, the woman says that if his name would have been Ned, he would be in danger. Edwin ignores this lady''s strange talk and leaves the place nodding happily to the woman. Edwin and Neville go down to the steaming river next day and since then, Edwin goes missing. Neville is obviously suspected as the murderer but he denies all the allegations stating that he did love Rose but that did not mean that he will end up killing her fiancé. Mr. John Jasper now enters again in the scenario. He proposes marriage to Rose and when she disagrees he blackmails her by saying that he will threaten the life of Neville, her best friend Helena''s twin brother.

One of the masterpieces of the written world. A must-read. Illustrated with doodles Complete and unabridged A gripping portrayal of London''s dark criminal underbelly, published in Penguin Classics with an introduction by Philip Horne. The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull''s Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

First published in the year 1840, celebrated Victorian romantic novelist Charlotte Brontë''s present book ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London.

Oliver Twist is the story of a young orphan, Oliver, and his attempts to stay good in a society that refuses to help. Oliver is born in a workhouse, to a mother not known to anyone in the town. She dies right after giving birth to him, and he is sent to the parochial orphanage, where he and the other orphans are treated terribly and fed very little. When he turns nine, he is sent to the workhouse, where again he and the others are treated badly and practically starved. The other boys, unable to stand their hunger any longer, decide to draw straws to choose who will have to go up and ask for more food. Oliver loses. On the appointed day, after finishing his first serving of gruel, he goes up and asks for more. Mr. Bumble, the beadle, and the board are outraged, and decide they must get rid of Oliver, apprenticing him to the parochial undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. It is not great there either, and after an attack on his mother''s memory, Oliver runs away.Oliver walks towards London. When he is close, he is so weak he can barely continue, and he meets another boy named Jack Dawkins, or the artful Dodger. The Dodger tells Oliver he can come with him to a place where a gentleman will give him a place to sleep and food, for no rent. Oliver follows, and the Dodger takes him to an apartment in London where he meets Fagin, the aforementioned gentleman, and Oliver is offered a place to stay. Oliver eventually learns that Fagin''s boys are all pickpockets and thieves, but not until he is wrongfully accused of their crime of stealing an old gentleman''s handkerchief. He is arrested, but the bookseller comes just in time to the court and says that he saw that Oliver did not do it. The gentleman whose handkerchief was taken, Mr. Brownlow, feels bad for Oliver, and takes him in.Oliver is very happy with Mr. Brownlow, but Fagin and his co-conspirators are not happy to have lost Oliver, who may give away their hiding place. So one day, when Mr. Brownlow entrusts Oliver to return some books to the bookseller for him, Nancy spots Oliver, and kidnaps him, taking him back to Fagin.Oliver is forced to go on a house-breaking excursion with the intimidating Bill Sikes. At gun point Oliver enters the house, with the plan to wake those within, but before he can, he is shot by one of the servants. Sikes and his partner escape, leaving Oliver in a ditch. The next morning Oliver makes it back to the house, where the kind owner, Mrs. Maylie, and her beautiful niece Rose, decide to protect him from the police and nurse him back to health.Oliver slowly recovers, and is extremely happy and grateful to be with such kind and generous people, who in turn are ecstatic to find that Oliver is such a good-natured boy. When he is well enough, they take him to see Mr. Brownlow, but they find his house empty--he has moved to the West Indies. Meanwhile, Fagin and his mysterious partner Monks have not given up on finding Oliver, and one day Oliver wakens from a nightmare to find them staring at him through his window. He raises the alarm, but they escape.Nancy, overhearing Fagin and Monks, decides that she must go to Rose Maylie to tell her what she knows. She does so, telling Rose that Monks is Oliver''s half-brother, who has been trying to destroy Oliver so that he can keep his whole inheritance, but that she will not betray Fagin or Sikes. Rose tells Mr. Brownlow, who tells Oliver''s other caretakers, and they decide that they must meet Nancy again to find out how to find Monks.They meet her on London Bridge at a prearranged time, but Fagin has become suspicious, and has sent his new boy, Noah Claypole, to spy on Nancy. Nancy tells Rose and Mr. Brownlow how to find Monks, but still refuses to betray Fagin and Sikes, or to go with them. Noah reports everything to Fagin, who tells Sikes, knowing full well that Sikes will kill Nancy. He does. Mr. Brownlow has in the mean time found Monks, who finally admits everything that he has done, and the true...

"David Copperfield is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens. The novel''s full title is The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account).[N 1] It was first published as a serial in 1849-50, and as a book in 1850.The novel features the character David Copperfield, and is written in the first person, as a description of his life until middle age, with his own adventures and the numerous friends and enemies he meets along his way. It is his journey of change and growth from infancy to maturity, as people enter and leave his life and he passes through the stages of his development.It has been called his masterpiece, ""the triumph of the art of Dickens"",[2][3] which marks a turning point in his work, the point of separation between the novels of youth and those of maturity.[3][4] Though written in the first person, David Copperfield is considered to be more than an autobiography, going beyond this framework in the richness of its themes and the originality of its writing, which makes it a true autobiographical novel.[4][5] In the words of the author, this novel was ""a very complicated weaving of truth and invention"".[6] Some elements of the novel follow events in Dickens''s own life.[7] It was Dickens'' favourite among his own novels. In the preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens wrote, ""like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."

★★★About★★★ Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864-65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life."[1] Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens'' skill as a writer in general, though not reviewing this novel in detail. Some found the plot too complex, and not well laid out.[2] The Times of London found the first few chapters did not draw the reader into the characters. However, in the 20th century reviewers have found much to approve in the later novels of Dickens, including Our Mutual Friend.[3] In the late 20th and early 21st century, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was experimenting with structure, [4][5] and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers[6] were true representations of the Victorian working class and key to understanding the structure of the society depicted by Dickens in this novel.

This tale of the orphan who is reared in a workhouse and runs away to London is a novel of social protest, a morality tale, and a detective story. Oliver Twist presents some of the most sinister characters in Dickens: the master thief, Fagin; the leering Artful Dodger; the murderer, Bill Sikes...along with some of his most sentimental and comical characters. Only Dickens can give us nightmare and daydream together.According to George Orwell, "in Oliver Twist...Dickens attacked English institutions with a ferocity that has never since been approached. Yet he managed to do it without making himself hated, and, more than this, the very people he attacked have welcomed him so completely that he has become a national institution himself."

Kent, England, late 19th century. The orphan Pip lives a humble existence with his sister and brother-in-law, whom he helps in his blacksmith shop. When the wealthy Miss Havisham calls on Pip to be her and her beautiful daughter''s companion, the young man will realize the hardships of his social class and will increasingly desire to move up the ranks of the social ladder. Pip will then receive a visit from a London lawyer, who will inform him that an anonymous benefactor wants to turn him into a gentleman. However, Pip will discover that the value of friendship and morals cannot be bought with money.The human heart is an instrument with many strings; the perfect connoisseur of men knows how to make them all vibrate, like a good musician. " Charles dickens

First published serially between 1864 and 1865, "Our Mutual Friend" is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens. The death of a wealthy miser, who is estranged from all except his trusted employees, Nicodemus and Henrietta Boffin, brings his son John Harmon back to London in order to claim his inheritance. The patrimony carries with it one condition, that he marries a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer. When a body is found floating in the Thames, it is presumed to be John, and the inheritance instead passes to the Boffins. The kind-hearted working class Boffins take into their household the disappointed bride to be Miss Wilfer and treat her as their own daughter, pampering her with their newfound wealth. They also accept the generous offer of John Rokesmith to attend to their financial affairs for free. Rokesmith, who also goes by the alias of Julius Handford, is in fact the heir John Harmon, presumed to be dead. Dickens''s novel is a thematically rich one, addressing the struggle of man between societal expectations and the desire to follow one''s heart. Rich with a symbolism of rebirth, "Our Mutual Friend" brilliantly dramatizes the impact that wealth plays upon society. Please provide your review after purchase for our future enhancements.

A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols and newer customs such as Christmas trees. He was influenced by the experiences of his own youth and by the Christmas stories of other authors including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Dickens had written three Christmas stories prior to the novella, and was inspired following a visit to the Field Lane Ragged School, one of several establishments for London''s street children.

The novel follows the journey of the titular character, Oliver Twist. Oliver, an orphan since birth, spends much of his childhood at a "child farm" (orphanage) with too many children and too little food. The farm is located roughly 70 miles outside London. One night, after being served his portion of gruel, Oliver asks for a second helping. This is unacceptable, and Oliver is sent to work as an apprentice to an undertaker. Eventually, after suffering repeated mistreatment, Oliver runs away and heads for London. He soon finds himself in the presence of the Artful Dodger, who tells him to stay at the house of an "old gentleman" (named Fagin) with a number of other boys. Oliver learns that these boys are trained pickpockets. On an outing, Oliver witnesses the boys take a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, an elderly man, which prompts Oliver to run away in fear and confusion. The elderly man mistakes Oliver''s behaviour for guilt and has him arrested. However, after learning more about Oliver, Mr. Brownlow realizes his mistake and offers to take care of him at his home.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.

Nicholas Nickleby; or, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens. Originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839, it was Dickens''s third novel. 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''s 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.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. It satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors'' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens''s own father had been imprisoned. Dickens is also critical of the lack of a social safety net, the treatment and safety of industrial workers, as well the bureaucracy of the British Treasury, in the form of his fictional "Circumlocution Office". In addition he satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.

I HAVE endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

It is regarded as one of his greatest and most sophisticated novels, and is one of his most enduringly popular, having been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times. Great Expectations is written in a semi-autobiographical style, and is the story of the orphan Pip, writing his life from his early days of childhood until adulthood. The story can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine. This edition uses the text as it appeared in its serial publication in 1859 to convey the full scope of Dickens''s vision, and includes the original illustrations by H. K. Browne (''Phiz''). Richard Maxwell''s introduction discusses the intricate interweaving of epic drama with personal tragedy.

The Old Curiosity Shop (along with Barnaby Rudge) was one of two novels which Charles Dickens published in his short-lived weekly serial Master Humphrey''s Clock, which lasted from 1840 to 1841. The Old Curiosity Shop was printed as a separate book in 1841

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, IN PROSE BEING, A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMASA Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843; the first edition was illustrated by John Leech. A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when the British were examining and exploring Christmas traditions from the past, such as carols, as well as new customs such as Christmas trees. He was influenced by experiences from his own past, and from the Christmas stories of other authors, including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Dickens had written three Christmas stories prior to the novella, and was inspired to write the story following a visit to the Field Lane Ragged school, one of several establishments for London''s half-starved, illiterate street children. The treatment of the poor and the ability of a self-interested man redeeming himself by transforming into a more sympathetic character are the key themes of the story. There is discussion among academics as to whether this was a fully secular story, or if it is a Christian allegory.Published on 19 December, the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve; by the end of 1844 thirteen editions had been released. Most critics reviewed the novella positively. The story was illicitly copied in January 1844; Dickens took action against the publishers, who went bankrupt, reducing further Dickens''s small profits from the publication. He went on to write four other Christmas stories in subsequent years. In 1849 he began public readings of the story which proved so successful he undertook 127 further performances until 1870, the year of his death. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has been translated into several languages; the story has been adapted many times for film, stage, opera and other media.CHARLES JOHN HUFFAM DICKENSCharles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world''s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors'' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children''s rights, education, and other social reforms.Dickens''s literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience''s reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife''s chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features. His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives.

Title: A Christmas CarolAuthor: Charles DickensLanguage: English

A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (illustrated) Classic Version

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Great Expectations’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Charles Dickens’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Dickens includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Great Expectations’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Dickens’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Charles Dickens was one of the greatest authors in history. Dickens''s books, which feature some of the most famous fictional characters, were very successful during his lifetime and they remain just as popular and celebrated today. Most students can''t get through high school without reading a couple of Dickens''s classic stories and there are many college courses dedicated to his literature. Great Expectations is one of Dickens''s greatest novels. The book centers around an orphan who is nicknamed Pip. The book starts with Pip at seven years old who encounters an escaped convict when he is visiting the graves of his mother, father, and siblings.

Ebenezer Scrooge has no time for the poor or the wretched. And it''s "Bah, humbug!" to anyone who wishes him a Merry Christmas. But when he turns in for the night one cold, fateful Christmas Eve, his past, present, and future converge. Three haunting guests are about to show him that the time has come to change his miserly ways-before it''s too late.Discover the everlasting spirit of the holiday season in Charles Dickens''s cherished story of hope, joy, empathy, and love.

Bleak House is one of Charles Dickens''s major novels, first published as a serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and the story is told partly by the novel''s heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of Bleak House is the long-running legal case, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which came about because someone wrote several conflicting wills. This legal case is used by Dickens to satirise the English judicial system, and he makes use of his earlier experiences as a law clerk, and as a litigant seeking to enforce copyright on his earlier books. Though the legal profession criticised Dickens''s satire as exaggerated, this novel helped support a judicial reform movement, which culminated in the enactment of legal reform in the 1870s. There is some debate among scholars as to when Bleak House is set. The English legal historian Sir William Holdsworth sets the action in 1827] however, reference to preparation for the building of a railway in Chapter LV suggests the 1830s.

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.