Bleak House

"Bleak House" - first serialized from 1852-53 and then published as a full novel in 1853 - is one of Charles Dickens' most acclaimed novels.



Both a brilliant novel filled with intrigue, fascinating characters and high drama and also a scathing satire of the British Chancery court system, "Bleak House" charts the lives of three young wards of John Jarndyce: Esther Summerson, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare. Richard and Ada are cousins and figure among the potential beneficiaries of a contested will, which has been making its way through the Chancery court for decades in a case known as Jarndyce and Jarndyce.



When Esther and Richard fall in love, Richard is encouraged to seek a profession and to avoid getting involved in the court case, which has been known to consume the lives of anyone who falls under its spell. But when Richard is inexorably drawn to try and bring the case to its conclusion, Ada and Esther do everything they can to save him from his own obsession before Jarndyce and Jarndyce destroys his life.



"Bleak House" proved to be such a powerful and influential novel when it was first published that the British legal system enacted several legal reforms in direct response to the novels condemnation of the system. It has since gone on to become a literary classic and has been adapted several times to the screen. The novel is presented here in its original and unabridged format.