When Nicholas Nickleby’s father dies, he leaves his Family with no money. His Dying wish is for them to go to ondon and ask his brother Ralph for help. But uncle Ralph is a selfish, old-hearted man, and he and Nicholas soon become enemies. Nicholas is sent away to work at a horrible school in Yorkshire where the children have to live in terrible conditions. The Pupils are hungry, badly taught and treated cruelly, but Nicholas cannot change anything. If he complains, he will lose his job. But if he does nothing, he will go mad. What can he do? As we follow Nicholas on his exciting adventures - sometimes funny, sometimes sad - we meet many unforgettable characters: Wackford Squeers, the cruel, one-eyed schoolmaster at Dotheboys Hall school for boys; Smike, the poor boy who becomes Nicholas’s loyal friend for life; the mysterious and beautiful Madeline; Sir Mulberry Hawk, the ugly, rich old man who refuses to leave Nicholas’s sister alone; Charles and Ned Cheeryble, the friendly twins who are unbelievably kind and many more. Will Nicholas and his friends and family ever find happiness in a world where stupid, greedy people have all the power, ad brave but honest people have nothing? It’s a story about the human searh for happiness.
