Bleak House

A tale of family secrets and the damaging corruption of the British legal system from the author of Great Expectations and Oliver Twist.

 


In Bleak House, Charles Dickens not only pries apart the stultifying and ponderous conduct and contracts of British moneyed society, but also takes specific aim at an English judicial system in desperate need of modernization and reform.


Featuring the voice of Esther Summerson—Dickens's only female narrator—the story unfolds around a generations-old legal case involving numerous inheritances. It is Esther's hidden birthright that sparks the drama, bringing to light such memorable characters as the Lady Dedlock, haunted by her shameful past; John Jarndyce, whose seemingly infinite kindness is driven by hidden guilt; and the sly lawyer Mr. Tulkinghorn, who secretly relishes the power his position gives him over his clients.


 


Weaving a complex web of plots and subplots, Dickens created one of his most dramatically satisfying and boldly ambitious narratives in Bleak House, as the novel offers a scathing indictment of the mores and moral injustices of his time.


 

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