The Old Curiosity Shop is Dickens’s fourth novel during the early period where he has not quite hit the prime of his writing talents. His skills are definitely on display creating larger than life characters, focusing in on social critique and economic inequality, telling interesting stories, exhibiting ever present humor, and showing the ability to go over the top with sentimentality. No one reading this book can forget Little Nell.

Based upon my personal tastes I rate the novels in the order they were written with the exception of The Pickwick Papers as my favorite of his first four books.