Other editions of book Bleak House

One theme of this story is the monstrous injustice and even ruin that could be wrought by the delays in the old Court of Chancery, which defeated all the purposes of a court of justice; but the romance proper is unconnected with this. The scene is laid in England about the middle of this century. Lady Dedlock, a beautiful society woman, successfully hides a disgraceful secret. She has been engaged to a Captain Hawdon; but through circumstances beyond their control, they were unable to marry, and her infant she believes to have died at birth. Her sister, however, has brought up the child under the name of Esther Summerson. Esther becomes the ward of Mr. Jarndyce, of the famous chancery law case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, and lives with him at Bleak House. Her unknown father, the Captain, dies poor and neglected in London. A veiled lady visits his grave at night; and this confirms a suspicion of Mr. Tulkinghorn, Sir Leicester Dedlock's lawyer, already roused by an act of Lady Dedlock. With the aid of a French maid he succeeds in unraveling the mystery, and determines to inform his friend and client Sir Leicester of his wife's youthful misconduct . On the night before this revelation is to be made, Mr. Tulkinghorn is murdered. Lady Dedlock is suspected of the crime, disappears, and after long search is found by Esther and a detective, lying dead at the gates of the grave-yard where her lover is buried. The story is told partly in the third person, and partly as autobiography by Esther.

Dickens' grandest, most virtuosic achievement, Bleak House combines two tales: the story of wealthy Lady Dedlock, recounted in the third person, and that of penniless Esther Summerson, told in her own words. The haughty noblewoman and the orphan are connected by the court case Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a tangle of disputed wills and disrupted inheritance that has tied up the High Court of Chancery for decades.Inspired by an actual court case that dragged on for more than 50 years, Dickens drew upon his own experiences as a law clerk and plaintiff to enliven his novel, which remains utterly contemporary in its portrait of a system invested in making business for itself at the expense of its plaintiffs. In addition to its complex and compelling portrayal of the English judiciary, Bleak House is also a brilliant detective story in which a police officer, Inspector Bucket, uncovers a richly plotted tale of secrets, murder, and mystery.

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RBleak House&&L/I&&R, by &&LB&&RCharles Dickens&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&RNew introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences―biographical, historical, and literary―to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&ROften considered &&LB&&RCharles Dickens&&L/B&&R’s masterpiece, &&LI&&RBleak House&&L/I&&R blends together several literary genres―detective fiction, romance, melodrama, and satire―to create an unforgettable portrait of the decay and corruption at the heart of English law and society in the Victorian era.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&ROpening in the swirling mists of London, the novel revolves around a court case that has dragged on for decades―the infamous Jarndyce and Jarndyce lawsuit, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs. As Dickens takes us through the case’s history, he presents a cast of characters as idiosyncratic and memorable as any he ever created, including the beautiful Lady Dedlock, who hides a shocking secret about an illegitimate child and a long-lost love; Mr. Bucket, one of the first detectives to appear in English fiction; and the hilarious Mrs. Jellyby, whose endless philanthropy has left her utterly unconcerned about her own family. &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RAs a question of inheritance becomes a question of murder, the novel’s heroine, Esther Summerson, struggles to discover the truth about her birth and her unknown mother’s tragic life. Can the resilience of her love transform a bleak house? And―more devastatingly―will justice prevail?&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&R&&L/B&&R &&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&RTatiana M. Holway&&L/B&&R&&L/B&&R received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. A specialist in Victorian literature and society, she has published a number of articles on Dickens and has taught at a variety of undergraduate institutions.&&L/P&&R

At the centre of Bleak House is the long-running legal case, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, inspired by a real-life Chancery case, which came about because someone wrote several conflicting wills, which than led to numerous family feuds, schemes and murder.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.

Bleak House, Dickens's most daring experiment in the narration of a complex plot, challenges the reader to make connections--between the fashionable and the outcast, the beautiful and the ugly, the powerful and their victims. Nowhere in Dickens's later novels is his attack on an uncaring society more imaginatively embodied, and nowhere is the mixture of comedy and angry satire more deftly managed.

Bleak House by Charles DickensHow is this book unique? Illustrations IncludedBleak House, a novel by Charles Dickens, was first published as a serial between March 1852 and September 1853, and is considered to be one of Dickens' finest novels, containing vast, complex and engaging arrays of characters and sub-plots. The story is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. Memorable characters include haughty Lady Honoria Dedlock, the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, the realistic John Jarndyce, and the childish and disingenuous Harold Skimpole, as well as the imprudent Richard Carstone. At the novel's centre is long-running litigation Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. This case revolves around a testator who apparently made several wills. Dickens' satirization of the English judicial system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk, and in part on his experiences as a litigant seeking to enforce copyright on his earlier books.

An assembly of family, friends, lovers, and enemies are ensnared by the long-running court case Jarndyce and Jarndyce. For orphan Esther Summerson, it might lead to the truth of her parentage. The arrogant Lady Dedlock fears the legal tangle could expose her secret. For the malevolent solicitor Mr. Tulkinghorn, the costly dispute is a gainful opportunity. As for John Jarndyce, Esther’s guardian and master of Bleak House, it’s a chance to correct the past. When questions of inheritance become a trigger for murder, the sharp-eyed Inspector Bucket enters the fray.Reaching from the treacherous upper crust to the humble London slums, Bleak House is Charles Dickens’s masterful social satire with equal parts mystery and romance.Revised edition: Previously published as Bleak House, this edition of Bleak House (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

[Read by Simon Vance (-aka- Robert Whitfield)] Charles Dickens, at the height of his creative powers in this great work, pursues two great themes: the murky institutional fog that darkens and cripples all of England, symbolized by the endless litigation of the Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce case in the High Court of Chancery (which is slowly devouring an inheritance in legal costs), and the familiar Dickensian concern with the capricious treatment and maltreatment of children as exemplified by the pitiful castoff Jo and the overindulged Harold Skimkpole. Dickens' rich tapestry of a novel weaves together the fortunes and desires of several characters whose fates are tied to the case: Ada and Richard, two young orphans who stand to inherit and wish to marry when they do; the worthy John Jarndyce, their voluntary guardian while the case is pending; and Esther Summerson, Jarndyce's protegee, whose romance is complicated by torn loyalties and whose heritage is shrouded in mystery and scandal. Bleak House takes the form of a compelling mystery, a romantic tangle of trails followed by three vivid sleuths: the opportunistic Guppy, the sinister Tulkinghorn, and the benevolent Bucket. Only through the skill of Dickens can artfully constructed mystery so intensify and illuminate stringent social commentary. This portrait of London society is often regarded as Dickens' best.

First published in the year 1853; the present novel 'Bleak House' is one of Charles Dickens's major works. The story is told partly by the novel's heroine; Esther Summerson; and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of Bleak House is a long-running legal case; Jarndyce and Jarndyce; which came about because someone wrote several conflicting wills. Dickens uses this case to satirise the English judicial system; and he makes use of his earlier experiences as a law clerk and as a litigant seeking to enforce copyright on his earlier books.

Bleak House was first published as a serial between March 1852 and September 1853, and it is one of Charles Dickens's major novels. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and the story is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of Bleak House is the long-running legal case, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which came about because someone wrote several conflicting wills. This legal case is used by Dickens to satirize the English judicial system, and he makes use of his earlier experiences as a law clerk, and as a litigant seeking to enforce copyright on his earlier books. Though the legal profession criticised Dickens's satire as exaggerated, this novel helped support a judicial reform movement, which culminated in the enactment of legal reform in the 1870s.