Charles Dickens's masterful assault on the injustices of the British
legal system
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. This
edition follows the first book edition of 1853, and includes all the
original illustrations by 'Phiz', as well as appendices on the Chancery
and spontaneous combustion. In his preface, Terry Eagleton examines
characterisation and considers Bleak House as an early work of detective
fiction.
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