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 s third novel. Nickleby marks a new development in a further sense as it is the first of Dickens s romances. When it was published the book was an immediate and complete success and established Dickens s lasting reputation. Left penniless by the death of his improvident father, young Nicholas Nickleby assumes responsibility for his mother and sister and seeks help from his Scrooge-like Uncle Ralph. Instantly disliking Nicholas, Ralph sends him to teach in a school run by the stupidly sadistic Wackford Squeers. Nicholas decides to escape, taking with him the orphan Smike, one of Squeers s most abused young charges, and the two embark on a series of adventurous encounters with an array of humanity s worst and best—greedy fools, corrupt lechers, cheery innocents, and selfless benefactors.