Summary
Summary of The Old Curiosity Shop
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Nell lives beneath a secret
An old gentleman walking through London at night meets Nell, a lost girl, and takes her home. Her grandfather waits in a dark shop crowded with armor, carvings and rusty weapons. He loves her, yet leaves her alone there every night without explaining why.
Through the stranger's concern, Nell first appears as someone who needs protection. Kit, the cheerful boy she teaches to write, brings warmth into her life, but the grandfather's secret hangs over their home.
Key idea 2
Quilp turns knowledge into power
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Key idea 3
Nell becomes someone else's prize
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Key idea 4
Nell must become the protector
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Key idea 5
Safety gives way to gambling
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Key idea 6
Kindness gathers around the missing travelers
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Key idea 7
Poverty leaves Nell without shelter
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Key idea 8
Cruelty meets small acts of care
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Key idea 9
Love is tested by fear
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who love a big, crowded Victorian story with comic villains and sharp humor, a brave young heroine, and plenty of roads, inns and odd characters to meet along the way.
What this book is
The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens, first told in weekly parts in the early 1840s. It follows Nell Trent, a girl of about fourteen, and her grandfather, who keeps a dim shop of old and curious things in London. Around them move a cruel dwarf, a drunken dreamer, a loyal boy and a crooked lawyer.
The book opens on a quiet night walk. An old gentleman meets a lost child and takes her home, and he soon learns that her grandfather leaves her alone every night for reasons nobody will explain. What follows is a chase, a long walk through England, and a fight between plain kindness and greed. You meet puppet showmen, a waxwork owner, a gentle schoolmaster and a clerk who plays cribbage with a starving servant girl.
This summary walks you through the book in order and then looks at what it is really about. Let us begin with the shop itself and the secret that hangs over it.
In this summary
- 1A lost child and a secretFree
- 2Quilp, his wife and his schemes
- 3A plot to marry Nell
- 4The gambler and the flight
- 5Showmen, a waxwork and a lonely road
- 6Kit, the Garlands and the single gentleman
- 7Through the black country
- 8Trouble gathers in London
- 9Home, memory and what the story is about
Key point 1 of 9
A lost child and a secret
The book begins with an old gentleman who loves to walk London at night. One evening a small girl asks him the way home. She is Nell, and she has lost her path after running an errand she is not allowed to explain. The old man takes her back to a dark shop full of suits of armor, carvings and rusty weapons, where her grandfather waits with a candle.
The grandfather loves her fiercely. Yet he puts on his cloak and goes out into the night, leaving her alone in the shop, and he does this every night. Nell says she always stays there and does not mind. The old gentleman cannot sleep for thinking of it, and he paces the street until the rain drives him home.
The household has one cheerful visitor. This is Kit, an awkward boy with a wide mouth and a loud laugh, who works for the old man and makes Nell laugh. Nell is teaching him to write, and his blots delight them both.
The old gentleman comes back by daylight and meets the other people who pull at this family. There is Nell's brother Fred, an idle young man who wants money, and his friend Dick Swiveller, who talks in scraps of songs. Then comes Daniel Quilp, a dwarf with a grin like a dog's and a taste for tormenting others. After this the old gentleman steps aside, and the story speaks for itself.
It matters that the opening is told by someone outside the family. We see Nell first through a stranger's eyes, as a child who is trusted and trusting, and we understand at once why the reader will want to protect her.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Why does Nell's grandfather begin gambling?
Right. “He began years ago, afraid that Nell would be left poor, and he has lost his savings and borrowed from Quilp.”Not quite. “He began years ago, afraid that Nell would be left poor, and he has lost his savings and borrowed from Quilp.”
How do Brass and Sally plan to ruin Kit?
Right. “The two make a plan to slip a banknote into Kit's hat and have Dick Swiveller find it.”Not quite. “The two make a plan to slip a banknote into Kit's hat and have Dick Swiveller find it.”
What central conflict runs through the story?
Right. “The book is a story of love tested by fear and money, and of small kindnesses that stand up to great cruelty.”Not quite. “The book is a story of love tested by fear and money, and of small kindnesses that stand up to great cruelty.”
Who’s who
- Nell Trent
- A kind young girl who lives with her grandfather and cares for him in their London shop.
- Nell's grandfather
- Nell's devoted grandfather secretly gambles in hopes of providing for her, leaving them vulnerable to Daniel Quilp.
- Daniel Quilp
- A cruel moneylender who exploits the grandfather's debts and enjoys intimidating those within his power.
- Kit Nubbles
- The shop's loyal young worker is devoted to Nell and works to support his own family.
- Sampson and Sally Brass
- A dishonest lawyer and his sister who assist Quilp and become involved in his schemes against others.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 222,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 14 h 50 min
- Listening time24 h 40 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Old Curiosity Shop
What is The Old Curiosity Shop about?
It follows young Nell Trent and her grandfather, who flee London after his gambling ruins them. A cruel dwarf named Quilp pursues them while friends and strangers help or harm them, and the book weaves comedy, mystery and deep feeling.
Who is Daniel Quilp?
Quilp is a small, grinning, cruel moneylender and shipbreaker who lives on Tower Hill. He torments his wife and anyone weaker than himself, and he wants the old man's property and secrets for his own gain.
Why is the book called The Old Curiosity Shop?
The title comes from the dim London shop where Nell and her grandfather live. It is filled with armor, carvings and odd antiques, and it stands for the old, strange world that the two must leave behind.
When was The Old Curiosity Shop written and is it a true story?
Dickens wrote it in weekly parts in the early 1840s. It is a work of fiction, though it draws on real places such as London, English roads, fairs, canals and manufacturing towns of its day.
Is The Old Curiosity Shop easy to read?
It is told in short chapters with lively dialogue, strong characters and plenty of humor. A clear storyline, a girl on a journey and many funny scenes make it welcoming to readers of all kinds.
