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Charles Dickens - The Old Curiosity Shop.

(Please note this episode was originally recorded in Oct 2025 as a free 'subscribes only' bonus episode for people following the Bible Project Daily Podcast on Patreon).

To obtain the Copyright free recording of this book that I used in this recording by Actress Mil Nicholson visit: The Old Curiosity Shop (version 2) | LibriVox

Episode Notes::

Today, I turn my attention to The Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens’s fourth major novel, published in 1840–41. It follows Nicholas Nickleby and marks a shift—from satire and protest to pathos and pilgrimage. This is Dickens at his most emotionally raw, most spiritually provocative, and most narratively daring.

At the heart of the story is Nell Trent—a young girl of extraordinary innocence, navigating a world of greed, decay, and moral collapse. She travels with her grandfather, whose love is deep but whose choices are destructive. Together, they wander through England’s underbelly—meeting gamblers, beggars, saints, and sinners.

And always, death is near.

This is not a novel of triumph. It is a novel of tenderness. Of fragility. Of grace in the gutter. And for Victorian readers, it was overwhelming. Nell’s fate became a national obsession. Her death scene was mourned like a real one. The Old Curiosity Shop is a meditation on mortality, mercy, and the mystery of suffering. Nell is not just a character—she is a symbol. Of childlike faith. Of sacrificial love. Of the gospel lived in silence.

In this episode, I’ll suggest that Dickens uses Nell’s journey to ask the deepest questions: Questions like.

What does it mean to be good in a broken world?

Can innocence survive corruption?

And is death always a defeat—or can it be a doorway to something better?

So, join me as we walk with Nell through the shadow of death, praying that we might fear no evil, because the Spirit of the Lord is with us.

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History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast: (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment Podcast).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

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