Based on Dicken's Oliver Twist, from the POV of Nancy, one of the supporting characters. I had forgot what happened to her but about a quarter through my memory started creaking and I got more and more anxious for her. 

If you haven't read Oliver, I'll spare you the details but essentially my fears were justified. 

However, I felt that because we had followed Nancy and got a much fuller picture of her, it didn't seem as sad at the end. 

What I didn't like was her justification for Bill's behaviour, though I suppose it's typical of abuse victims, I still didn't like it. I also found the idea of a man having relations with a woman who looks like his dear mother in his mother's old room just a tad icky. However, I hope his later observation that she was nothing like his mum was realised before the "relations". 

I think George was trying to capture Dicken's style but make it more modern.  So that some may find the prose odd. 

I gobbled this one up in a few days genuinely enjoyed it despite the dark themes.