Nicholas Nickelby (1838-9)

Nicholas Nickelby (1838-9) is one of a handful of novels by Charles Dickens that could appear on the GRE Literature exam. The novel was originally published as a serial. The tone is largely comic.

The following mnemonic rhyme, penned by my dear wife, was quite enough for the GRE Literature exam:

Nicholas Nickelby's father died.
His uncle Ralph did him deride.
There's not much more to his career
Except his acquaintance with Wackford Squeers.

For more detail, you can check out this character list.

I wouldn't recommend reading the book in its entirety for the GRE.