Nicholas Nickleby (Charles Dickens, 1838)

(831 pages) 

Written early in Dickens's career - shortly after Pickwick, Oliver.

Uncle Ralph Nickleby - venal, Scrooge-like

Title character's father dies of "broken heart" after wife-induced speculation ruins the family financially.

Nicholas - the title character- seems pretty prone to scuffles.

Cheeryble Bros as sort of a deus ex machina; they can fix things!

Newman Nogg - Ralph's assistant, does not share Ralph's meanness.

Schoolmaster - Squeers - keeps showing up.  Not nice.

Minor item - description of promoting a muffin company at beginning of book - pitch-perfect as to how it's still done.

Uncle Ralph Nickleby - great dialogue, lots of good lines.

Chesterton's idea about weakness of female leads (especially Kate).  Mother of Nicholas/Kate a garrulous ditz, I tended to skip passages whenever she started talking.

But overall the characters were entertaining per Dickens usual (meaning unusually good) capabilities.

Lots of characters, lots of plot threads, a lot to wrap up in the final pages.  He does it masterfully.