Bleak House

Product Description

Bleak House" is Charles Dickens' masterful assault on the injustices of the British legal system. This " Penguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction & notes by Nicola Bradbury as well as a preface by Terry Eagleton. As the interminable case of ' Jarndyce & Jarndyce' grinds its way through the Court of Chancery it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada & 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; & 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. This edition follows the first book edition of 1853 &

Includes:: all the original illustrations by ' Phiz' as well as appendices on the Chancery & spontaneous combustion. In his preface Terry Eagleton examines characterisation & considers " Bleak House" as an early work of detective fiction. Charles Dickens is one of the best-loved novelists in the English language whose 200th anniversary was celebrated in 2012. His most famous books including " Oliver Twist" " Great Expectations" "A Tale of Two Cities" " David Copperfield" & " The Pickwick Papers" have been adapted for stage & screen & read by millions. If you enjoyed " Bleak House" you might like Dickens' " Our Mutual Friend" also available in " Penguin Classics". " Perhaps his best novel...when he wrote " Bleak House" he had grown up". (G.K. Chesterton). " One of the finest of all English satires". (Terry Eagleton)."