The old curiosity shop

First published as a weekly serial from 1840 to 1841, "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles Dickens is a novel that details the life of a beautiful young orphaned girl named Nell Trent. As the story begins, she lives with her loving grandfather in his London curiosity shop, happy, but lonely with only Kit, a kind and honest boy employed in the shop, for a friend. Their fortunes take a turn for the worse when her grandfather loses badly at his secret nighttime gambling activities, something he only did in the hope of affording a better life for Nell. The cruel money lender Daniel Quilp seizes the shop to pay the grandfather's debt and they are forced to leave for the English countryside, penniless and alone. After their departure, they are sought by both friends who wish to help them and cruel men with harmful designs. Nell and her grandfather, forced to beg for their support, ultimately experience the extremes of human loyalty and villainy in their state of abject poverty. Although one of his lesser-known works, Dickens artfully displays a cast of diverse characters in a tale that captivates readers from the first page to its tragic conclusion. This edition includes a biographical afterword.