The Pickwick Papers, Dickens's first novel, is a delightful romp through the pre-Reform Bill England of 1827. Samuel Pickwick and the rest of the Pickwickians are some of the most memorable of all Dickens's creations, and it is a joy to hear of their adventures in search of "interesting scenes and characters", and the repeated efforts of the quick-witted Sam Weller to rescue them all from disaster.

In this, perhaps Dickens' most profound and personal novel, we are invited to share in the sentimental education of Pip, the poor boy from the village forge who risks losing himself in snobbery and selfishness when he mysteriously inherits a fortune. The story moves from the bleak Kentish marshes of Pip's childhood to a thrilling climax that mingles tragedy and triumph.

Out of the dust-heaps and dirty streets of mid-Victorian London Dickens creates a classic murder-mystery tale. A dead man is fished out of the Thames by a scavenger and his daughter. Who is he, and how did he get there? His death affects members of all levels of a society permeated by greed.

The Chuzzlewits are a family divided by money and selfishness; even young Martin, the eponymous hero, is arrogant and self-centred. He offends his grandfather by falling in love with the latter’s ward, Mary, and sets out to make his own fortune in life, travelling as far as America - which produces from Dickens a savage satire on a new world tainted with the vices of the old. Martin’s nature slowly changes through his bitter experience of life and his enduring love for Mary.

Als der Waisenjunge Oliver Twist nach London flieht, gerät er in die Fänge von Fagin und seiner Diebesbande. In den finsteren Straßen Londons wird er in das Handwerk des Taschendiebstahls eingewiesen. Doch die Polizei fasst ihn und der gütige Mr. Brownlow nimmt sich seiner an. Olivers Glück währt nur kurz: Fagins Bande holt ihn zurück und er wird gezwungen, ein schreckliches Verbrechen zu begehen.

A complex plot of love and inheritance is set against the English legal system of the mid-19th century. As the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce drags on, it becomes an obsession to everyone involved. And the issue on an inheritance ultimately becomes a question of murder.

One of Dickens’ earlier novels, dating from 1839, it charts the fortunes of an honorable young man, Nicholas Nickleby, who has set out to make his way in the world. Dickens presents his remarkably vivid display of Victorian characters and the life they lead, from the generous to the fated to the crushed. Hope springs eternal, however, and righteous persistence brings rewards.

Charming, rich, and clever, heiress Emma Woodhouse has no need for an occupation - or a husband. Still, she considers herself quite skilled at matchmaking. Although her dear friend Mr. Knightley advises against it, there is nothing that she enjoys more than entangling herself in the romantic lives of others. But when one of her well-intentioned plans goes awry - as Mr. Knightley rightly predicted - Emma must face the consequences of her meddling.

A century after it first appeared, Crime and Punishment remains one of the most gripping psychological thrillers. A poverty-stricken young man, seeing his family making sacrifices for him, is faced with an opportunity to solve his financial problems with one simple but horrifying act: the murder of a pawnbroker. She is, he feels, just a parasite on society. But does the end justify the means? Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov makes his decision and then has to live with it.

In this world of bribes, vendettas, and swindling, in which heiresses are gambled and won, Trollope's characters embody all the vices: Lady Carbury is 'false from head to foot'; her son Felix has 'the instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog'; and Melmotte - the colossal figure who dominates the book - is a 'horrid, big, rich scoundrel...a bloated swindler...a vile city ruffian'. But as vile as he is, he is considered one of Trollope's greatest creations.

Provoking an unprecedented outpouring of public grief when it was first published, it follows the story of Little Nell and her feckless grandfather. Forced to leave their magical shop of curiosities in London, they are pursued across the English countryside by the grotesquely evil dwarf Quilp. They escape - but at what cost?

A quiet, unassuming man who loves nothing more than his daughter, his music, and his violincello. His life is seriously disrupted by a zealous young man who sees a disparity between the monies paid out to the Warden and the monies paid out to the 12 bedesmen that live in the hospital of Barchester Cathedral as charity cases, according to Hiram's Will. 

Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.

Wilkie Collins' follow-up to The Woman in White and No Name is an innovative take on mistaken identity, the nature of evil, and the dark underbelly of Victorian England. The story concerns two distant cousins, both named Allan Armadale, and the impact of a family tragedy, which makes one of them a target of the murderous Lydia Gwilt, a vicious and malevolent charmer determined to get her hands on the Armadale fortune. Will the real Allan Armadale be revealed, and will he survive the plot against his life? 

Charles Darnay is a French noble falsely accused of treason. Sydney Carton is a self-loathing junior barrister enlisted to defend him. Between them is a shared love for the daughter of a former Bastille prisoner. Soon, their interlocking fates will be decided, as the French Revolution is ignited and the Reign of Terror begins.