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Alistair MacNichol

Alistair MacNichol

Dickens researcher and long-distance walker who recreates literary journeys, known for BBC Ramblings appearance tracing Little Nell's route

Jul 2, 2026

3:06
This is Little Nell, yes?
3:08
This is Little Nell, yes, yes.
3:09
This is Little Nell Trent, yeah.
3:11
I, I always think the, the book itself, that the title of the book anyway, is a, something of a misnomer, The Old Curiosity Shop, because of the 73 chapters that make up that book, only five are set within the shop itself, and a further two, you know, are only partly so.
3:27
So, um, at, at its core, the book is about a long distance journey, mostly made on foot, by a young girl, Nell, who is 14 years of age, and her grandfather.
3:37
And the reason they make the journey is because Nell's grandfather is a compulsive gambler, and he runs into money difficulties, and he borrows money from a, a villainous loan shark called Daniel Quilp, and he can't repay the, the debt.
3:51
And so Quilp evicts them, he takes possession of the shop and evicts them.

16 MINS LATER

19:26
Oh.

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