'His characters are marvellous, his insights wonderful ... You don't expect reality but you get something bigger and better' Ruth Rendell
The Old Curiosity Shop was an instant bestseller that, even while it was criticized for its sentimentality, captured the hearts of the nation with its portrayal of little Nell Trent, who is thrown into a terrifying world when her beloved grandfather is unable to pay his debts to the loathsome Quilp. Alongside the pathos of the innocent, tragic Nell are some of Dickens's greatest characters: the ne'er-do'well Dick Swiveller, the mannish lawyer Sally Brass, the half-starved 'Marchioness' and the lustful Quilp himself, a creation of demonic power and cruelty.
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Norman Page
Autorentext
Charles Dickens (1812-70) was a political reporter and journalist whose popularity was established by the phenomenally successful PICKWICK PAPERS (1836-7). His novels captured and held the public imagination over a period of more than thirty years. He is considered one of the greatest novelists in the English language.
Norman Page is Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham and the University of Alberta, Canada. His books include A Dickens Companion and A Dickens Chronology.