Little Nell Trent's childhood is over. Her grandfather's mind is failing, his dark secret makes him sad and distracted, and he has nobody to care for him but Nell. The grotesque Daniel Quilp is out to cause trouble. What plans does he hatch with the dreadful Sampson and Sally Brass? What use can he hope to make of the foolish Dick Swiveller? Is Nell's one true friend, Kit, a match for Quilp's villainous mind? Nell and her grandfather must disappear or be separated forever, and so they begin their lives as beggars. When a ...
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Little Nell Trent's childhood is over. Her grandfather's mind is failing, his dark secret makes him sad and distracted, and he has nobody to care for him but Nell. The grotesque Daniel Quilp is out to cause trouble. What plans does he hatch with the dreadful Sampson and Sally Brass? What use can he hope to make of the foolish Dick Swiveller? Is Nell's one true friend, Kit, a match for Quilp's villainous mind? Nell and her grandfather must disappear or be separated forever, and so they begin their lives as beggars. When a mysterious gentleman arrives in London, determined to track them down, it becomes a race against time and against the evil of Quilp. Can Little Nell keep her grandfather safe? Who will protect Nell? Will the mysterious gentleman find them before it is too late?
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HAVING REaD THE BOOK BEFORE THE STORY WAS FAMILIAR, my reading again because of having seen a recent drama series of it; I found it boringly focussed (too much time of story on this), on the wanderings of g-father and young girl Nell. In my opinion Dickens liked to write, to picture poor young girls, 10-16 year olds, in poor circumstances bravely trying to cope with life, in this story ending that part of book on death of the g-father and girl. In other parts of the novel Dickens pictures a dreadful, ugly dwarf, for a time manipulating characters to his wishes, later getting his just punishment by an accidental death; an odd delopment of story is the character D. Swiveller, who first appears as a selfish, odd-ball man easily taken advantage of by others, later becoming a near hero of the story. I'm inclined not to ever read the book again, opinion that it's inferior to some, maybe most of Dickens' other novels.
