Katie Lumsden of Book and Things ranks Dickens’s novel across several tiers and categories. I pretty much agree with her final rankings except for OLIVER TWIST, which I would raise several places, and HARD TIMES, which I would drop several places. My criteria do not always align with hers.

The one category I would disregard is GENDER, which she should really name FEMINIST, because her interest is really only in how Dickens portrays women according to feminist gender theory. She really has little interest in male characters except to speak about toxic masculinity when, in her mind, it’s warranted or when they behave according to feminist notions.