David Copperfield is the quintessential coming of age story where the young David flounders around foolishly for a time before finding his legs and going straight. In the mean time, the evil and revolting Uriah Heap (Dickens really had a thing about lawyers) has manipulated David's close friend's family into disaster in an attempt to force David's young lover to marry him. The conclusion is satisfying and surprising as Dickens was a master at both the hanging ending between chapters and the happy final ending.