The novels of Charles Dickens were first published in the following order. Click on a title to explore the novel in more depth.

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.

  • The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, more commonly referred to now as The Pickwick Papers, was Charles Dickens’s first novel, originally published as a monthly serial between March 1836 and October 1837. Its popularity helped propel Dickens to one of the foremost writers of the time.

Oliver Twist, The Parish Boy’s Progress.

Oliver Twist

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

Nicholas Nickleby
  • Nicholas Nickleby; or, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby was Charles Dickens’s third novel, published monthly between April 1838 and October 1839. Dickens largely wrote the work whilst living at his London residence in Doughty Street. The novel centres 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.

Master Humphrey's Clock

Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ‘Eighty.

Master Humphrey's Clock

The Christmas Novels.

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.

Martin Chuzzlewitt
  • Martin Chuzzlewit, is the sixth novel by Charles Dickens originally published between January 1843 and July 1844. The main theme of the novel revolves around the Chuzzlewit family, using satire to depict the selfishness of a number of characters.

Dombey and Son.

Dombey and Son
  • Dombey and Son was Charles Dickens’s seventh novel, published between October 1846 and April 1848. The story follows the fortunes of a shipping firm, whose owner is frustrated at not having a son to follow him in the job, and initially rejects his daughter’s love, eventually becoming reconciled with her before his death.

David Copperfield.

David Copperfield
  • David Copperfield was the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published between May 1849 and November 1850. The novel, written in the first person, revolves around the character after which the work is named. It follows his life until middle age, with his own adventures and the numerous friends and enemies he meets along his way.

Bleak House.

Bleak House
  • Bleak House was the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, intended to illustrate the evils caused by long, drawn-out legal cases in the Court of Chancery. Serialised between 18521853, the story unravels through the use of double narration, in part from the perspective of a third-person narrator and in part from the first-person point of view of the main protagonist, Esther Summerson.

Hard Times: For These Times.

Hard Times
  • Hard Times – For These Times (more commonly now known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens. It first appeared in weekly parts, published in Household Words, from April to August 1854. The shortest of Dickens’ novels, the story is set in the fictitious northern English industrial mill-town of Coketown.

Little Dorrit.

Little Dorrit

A Tale of Two Cities.

A Tale of Two Cities.
  • A Tale of Two Cities was the second of Charles Dickens’s two historical novels (the other being Barnaby Rudge). It first appeared as a weekly serial published in All the Year Round from April to November 1859. The plot centres on the years leading up to the French Revolution and culminates in the Jacobean Reign of Terror.

Great Expectations.

Great Expectations

Our Mutual Friend.

Our Mutual Friend cover

The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Monthly serial, published between April 1870 and September 1870. Written whilst Dickens was living at Gad’s Hill. Only six of twelve planned numbers completed before the authors death.