The Old Curiosity Shop

About the book

Nell lives with her grandfather in the old curiosity shop, where his wish to secure her future becomes entangled with a dangerous dependence on money. Daniel Quilp's predatory interest threatens their fragile household and helps drive them away from familiar surroundings. Dickens follows their wandering alongside the lives of people who search for them, exploit others, or offer forms of help. Travelling entertainments, workshops, lodgings, and roadside encounters create a varied social landscape in which innocence has little material protection. Nell's practical responsibility contrasts with the adults' fantasies and appetites. The novel combines grotesque comedy with sustained pathos, making the distance between affection and effective care one of its central concerns: loving someone does not necessarily mean understanding the risks to which one's own hopes expose them.

• Care and vulnerability
• Money
• Innocence

Why read it

For a Dickens journey that brings tender concern and grotesque appetite into vivid contact across a changing social landscape.

English text