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Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.6/5)
Genre: Classic Literature / Comic Novel / Victorian Fiction / Social Satire

Book Review:
Nicholas Nickleby (1838-39) is Dickens’ third novel, written when he was still in his twenties — and it shows. The energy is explosive. Young Nicholas must protect his mother and sister from his villainous uncle, Ralph. He is sent to work at Dotheboys Hall, a brutal Yorkshire boarding school run by the monstrous Wackford Squeers. When Nicholas can no longer bear the cruelty, he attacks Squeers and flees, joining a hilarious troupe of actors (the Crummles family). Dickens pours scorn on middle-class hypocrisy and the abuse of children, but the novel is also bursting with comedy, caricature, and joy. Even before the novel was finished, plagiarists were staging adaptations in London. This Penguin Classics edition, edited by Michael Slater, includes a fine introduction and notes.