Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist follows an orphan boy navigating the brutal underworld of Victorian London, from the workhouse to a gang of child thieves. Through Oliver's struggle for survival and dignity, Dickens exposes the cruelty of poverty, the failures of social institutions, and the exploitation of children by a society that claims to care for them. The novel becomes both gripping adventure and searing social critique, revealing how systems designed to help the poor often destroy them instead.

WHY WE PICKED IT: Because Dickens refused to look away from the children society preferred to ignore. Oliver Twist remains urgent because it shows us that poverty isn't a moral failing but a social condition, and that the real criminals are often the ones running the institutions meant to provide care.

DETAILS: • Author: Charles Dickens • Publisher: Penguin Classics • Format: Paperback • Publication Date: April 29, 2003 • ISBN: 9780141439742 • Ships direct from distributor in 3–7 business days