Oliver Twist (Oliver Twist)

The story of Oliver Twist-orphaned and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath-shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr. Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters: the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull's-eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic romance, the Newgate novel, and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.