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The Pickwick Papers was Charles Dickens's first novel. Published in 19 issues over 20 months (1837-1838), the success of The Pickwick Papers popularized serialized fiction and cliffhanger endings. Samuel Pickwick, Esquire is a kind and wealthy old gentleman, the founder and perpetual president of the Pickwick Club. He suggests that he and three other Pickwickians should make journeys to places remote from London and report on their findings to the other members of the club. Their travels throughout the English countryside by coach provide the chief subject matter of the novel.

Published in 1848, the novel follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps. He initially rejects his daughter's love before eventually becoming reconciled with her before his death. The story features many Dickensian themes, such as arranged marriages, child cruelty, betrayal, deceit, and relations between people from different British social classes.

Barnaby Rudge, published in 1841, is Dickens's first historical novel, largely set during the Gordon Riots of 1780. It was the fifth of Dickens's novels to be published. It had initially been planned to appear as his first, but changes of publisher led to many delays. British historian and Dickens biographer Peter Ackroyd has called it "one of Dickens's most neglected, but most rewarding, novels".

Nicholas Nickleby or The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. It was Dickens' third novel. The story centers on the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies.

The Old Curiosity Shop is one of two novels (the other being Barnaby Rudge) which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock, from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York readers stormed the wharf when the ship bearing the final installment arrived in 1841. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London.