The story of the orphan Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken in by a den of thieves, shocked readers when it was first published. Dickens` tale of childhood innocence beset by evil depicts the dark criminal underworld of a London peopled by vivid & memorable characters
- the arch-villain Fagin, the artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes & the prostitute Nancy. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel & popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, & pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat & mystery.