Sketches by Boz

Minerva House was a finishing establishment for young ladies, where some twenty girls aged thirteen to nineteen inclusive acquired a smattering of everything and a knowledge of nothing. In Sketches by Boz, you will meet a group of scientists who have researched and invented the most useless and absurd things imaginable. You'll meet Mr Minns, who hates children and dinner parties but ends up in his cousin's loud and tumultuous house. And you'll meet Mrs Tibbs, who walks all over her stupid husband. And so, in this collection of short pieces, a young Dickens establishes himself not only as the sharpest political commentator of his time but also one of the wittiest and most insightful.