Harding's Luck

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Harding’s Luck , published in 1909, is the sequel to The House of Arden by E. Nesbit . Rather darker and more serious in tone than the previous book, this novel is set in England’s Edwardian era, when there was no government-supported welfare and the poor still sometimes starved to death. It centers on young Dickie Harding, a poor, lame orphan boy who is enticed to run away with a disreputable tramp, Mr. Beale. Beale intends to use him to help carry out burglaries (a plot device not dissimilar to that of Oliver Twist ) . Nevertheless Beale becomes a substitute father-figure to Dickie and a strong mutual affection develops. The story then introduces a magical device which sends Dickie back in time to the early reign of King James I, where he inhabits the body of the son of the lord of a castle. Despite this new, very comfortable existence, where he is a member of a rich, respected family and no longer lame, Dickie selflessly forces himself to return to his present day because of a promise he had made to Beale and a desire to help Beale lead a more honest life. Nesbit was a member of the socially-progressive Fabian Society and a friend of H. G. Wells , and it shows in her stories. While Harding’s Luck is primarily a children’s novel, it touches on many deeper themes and comments seriously on the social conditions of the author’s time.