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The Convicts, by Iain Lawrence, is a story of a young boy who faces great odds to complete his

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The Convicts, by Iain Lawrence, is a story of a young boy who faces great odds to complete his quest to help his father. This novel takes many twists and turns through the landscape of London, more specifically in nineteenth century London. However, London is not described in the picturesque view many people have come to know London as. Lawrence shows the uglier more rugged lifestyle of many poor people in London during this time period. Within a society like this in London, swindling, gangs, and prison become common subjects among the lower classes, especially in this novel. Although life was hard for many, the characters in this novel find adventure along the way while aboard ships and through underground sewers.
The main character, Tom …show more content…

A man by the name of Alex Goodfellow has swindled Tom’s father of his money after apparently selling him an outstanding vessel along with its own crew. Instead, Mr.Goodfellow gave tom’s father the exact opposite, a rundown ship which was bound to cause problems. Eventually, the ship Tom’s father once thought was his big break, had sunk while Mr. Goodfellow reaped the insurance reward. To make matters even worse, Tom’s father was put in debtor’s prison. Tom struggled with the thought of his father going to prison for something which wasn’t actually his fault, so Tom decided to take action. He made a plan to run away and get revenge on his father’s swindler. Along the way he met an interesting character who was blind. Knowing that the man possessed a rare jewel, Tom took it in the hopes it would bring provide him money for his family the much needed money. Further into his journey, Tom comes across a gravedigger named Worms. Worms teaches Tom how to dig up the bodies of the dead and introduces him to other robbers. Interestingly enough, these robbers are kids just like Tom, who rob from people living amougst them in the sewers. Tom befriends Darkey and Benjamin Penny, who teach Tom their robbing ways. Then, things take a turn for the worst. The police find Tom robbing another man and arrest him. However, in one of the biggest plot twists, Tom is found not found guilty for robbing, but for murder. Of course Tom did not

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