"Facts alone are wanted in life." The children at Mr Gradgrind's
school are sternly ordered to stifle their imaginations and pay
attention only to cold, hard reality. They live in a smoky, troubled
industrial town where entertainment is hard to come by and resentments
run deep. The effects of Gradgrind's teaching on his own children, Tom
and Louisa, are particularly profound and leave them ill-equipped to
deal with the unpredictable desires of the human heart. Luckily for them
they have a friend in Sissy Jupe, the child of a circus clown, who
retains her warm-hearted, compassionate nature despite the pressures
around her. This classic includes illustrations by Frederick Walker.