The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839). Original illustrations included.
Nicholas Nickleby, is a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies. The family is forced to give up their comfortable lifestyle and travel to London to seek the aid of their only relative, Nicholas’s uncle, Ralph Nickeby. Ralph, a cold and ruthless businessman, has no desire to help his destitute relations and hates Nicholas, who reminds him of his dead brother. He gets Nicholas a low-paying job as an assistant to Wackford Squeers, who runs a school. Once he arrives in Yorkshire, Nicholas comes to realize that Squeers is running a scam. While he is there, Nicholas befriends a simple boy named Smike, who is older than the other “students” and now acts as an unpaid servant.
