Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. Bleak House is one of Dickens' finest achievements, establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist, as well as a brilliant comic writer. Its representations of a great city's underworld, and of the law's corruption and delay, draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, these are some of the lives that Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done.

A new edition to the Arcturus classic fiction line, Bleak House is arguably Dickens' most accomplished novel, blending an enjoyable story with a relevant societal critique. As orphaned Esther journeys to the home of her appointed guardian, Mr. Jarndyce, she meets his two other wards, Ada and Richard. The presence of Inspector Bucket, often called the first significant detective in literature, and Mr. Tulkinghorn, a nosy lawyer, threaten to reveal characters' pasts and upset the comfortable lives they lead. As these characters learn to navigate a world filled with mystery, murder and romance, Dickens implores readers to see the unnecessary harm caused by misguided institutions that seek to serve themselves over the public.

As the interminable case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, a destitute crossing-sweeper. A savage indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing-rooms of the aristocracy to the London slums.

In a unique creative experiment, Dickens divides the narrative between his heroine, Esther Summerson, who is psychologically interesting in her own right, and an unnamed narrator whose perspective both complements and challenges hers.

It is 1852 and three young people meet for the first time in High Court of Chancery. They are the latest victims to be caught in the long-running court case of Jamdyce vs Jamdyce. A case which has caused the financial and moral breakdown of many previous claimants. Retold by Margaret Tarner.

Bleak House is not only a love story and a tightly plotted murder mystery, but also a condemnation of the corruption at the heart of English society. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition has an afterword by David Stuart Davies and original illustrations by H. K. Browne. The inheritance case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has been going on for generations involving myriad characters from all walks of life. There’s Esther Summerson, Dickens' feisty heroine; Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, cocooned in their stately home in Lincolnshire; and Jo, the penniless crossing sweeper. We are drawn in and fascinated by the complex relationships. Indeed in none of Charles Dickens’ other novels is the canvas broader, the sweep more inclusive, the linguistic texture richer and the gallery of comic grotesques more extraordinary.

'The one great principle of the English law is, to make business for itself' 'Jarndyce and Jardyce' is an infamous lawsuit that has been in process for generations. Nobody can remember exactly how the case started but many different individuals have found their fortunes caught up in it. Esther Summerson watches as her friends and neighbours are consumed by their hopes and disappointments with the proceedings. But while the intricate puzzles of the lawsuit are being debated by lawyers, other more dramatic mysteries are unfolding that involve heartbreak, lost children, blackmail and murder.

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. As the interminable case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.

Considered by many readers, including Shaw, Chesterton, Conrad and Trilling, as one of Dickens’s finest achievements, Bleak House tells the complex story of a notorious lawsuit in which love and inheritance are set against the classic urban background of nineteenth-century London, where fog on the river, seeping into the very bones of the characters, symbolizes the pervasive corruption of the legal system and the society which supports it. Displaying the writer’s familiar panoramic sweep and enormous cast of brilliant characters, the novel is also a bold experimental narrative in which public and private worlds are brought into sharp focus. It was first published in monthly parts, 1852–3, accompanied by the illustrations by ‘Phiz’ reproduced in this volume. This edition also reprints the original Everyman preface by G. K. Chesterton.

The interminable case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has gone on for so long that it has become a subject of mirth in legal circles and a source of great profit to those professionally engaged in it. Held in its inexorable grip – along with a diverse cross section of mid-Victorian society, from baronets to crossing-sweepers – are two wards of court, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, who, along with the selfless Esther Summerson, are taken in by the kindly philanthropist John Jarndyce, owner of the eponymous Bleak House. But as the legal machinery grinds mercilessly on, the quixotic but feckless Richard, determined to resolve the lawsuit once and for all, seems doomed to be crushed under its weight, while Esther uncovers a shocking mystery concerning her own past. Elsewhere, others are driven to ever more heinous acts, including blackmail – and even murder. Part panoramic social satire and – with the introduction of the indefatigable police investigator Mr Bucket – part prototype of the detective genre, this dark, complex and intricately plotted book is considered by many to be both Dickens’s greatest work and the finest novel of the Victorian age.

Bleak House opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of Detective Inspector Bucket and the fate of Jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done.

Bleak House opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of Detective Inspector Bucket and the fate of Jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done.

Bleak House opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of Detective Inspector Bucket and the fate of Jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done.

Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. Bleak House is one of Dickens' finest achievements, establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist, as well as a brilliant comic writer. Its representations of a great city's underworld, and of the law's corruption and delay, draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, these are some of the lives that Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done.

Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. Bleak House is one of Dickens' finest achievements, establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist, as well as a brilliant comic writer. Its representations of a great city's underworld, and of the law's corruption and delay, draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, these are some of the lives that Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done.

The legal case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has become a joke to some people. People are born, marry and die, and still the case continues. But will the lives of Ada and Richard be ruined, like so many before? And how will their friend Esther be affected by secrets from her past?