A novel about Nell Trent, a gentle young girl who lives with her grandfather in a London shop of antiques and oddities. When his gambling leads them into debt and under the power of the cruel moneylender Daniel Quilp, they flee and wander through the English countryside. Meanwhile the cheerful Kit Nubbles and others seek to help them. It was hugely popular in its serial form, and mixes sentiment, comedy and menace.
Quotes
'She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon.'
She's the ornament of her sex.
Fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine.
What is the odds so long as the fire of soul is kindled at the taper of conwiviality, and the wing of friendship never moults a feather! What is the odds so long as the spirit is expanded by means of rosy wine, and the present moment is the least happiest of our existence!