An Appeal Case

Literary Fiction

Bleak House (version 4)

by Charles DICKENS (1812 - 1870)

Bleak house is one of Dickens finest achievements. It was written for serialisation in 1853 when Dickens was at the peak of his career. Monthly sales substantially exceeded his previous bestseller David Copperfield.Dickens' mastery of the English language comes to the fore in this book. It is an energetic book: a complex mystery story revolving around the heroine Esther Summerson and her path from childhood to marriage. During the course of Esther’s narration Dickens introduces some wonderful and unforgettable characters, and at the same time provides a searing indictment of the laws’ corruption and self-serving interests which prevailed during that time. He pokes fun at the languid and landed aristocracy and questions the societal indifference to the poor. Detection, black comedy, farce, and tragic ruin run through the story. Critics at the time were unenthusiastic but the public were enthralled by it! - Summary by Peter John Keeble

Listen next episodes of Bleak House (version 4):
Esther's Narrative , Esther's Narrative , Esther's Narrative , Esther's Narrative , Esther's Narrative , Esther's Narrative , Esther's Narrative , A Discovery , A Struggle , A Turn of the Screw , A Wintry Day and Night , Another Discovery , Attorney and Client , Beginning the World LXVI. , Chesney Wold , Closing In , Down in Lincolnshire LXVII. , Dutiful Friendship , Enlightened , Flight , In Mr. Tulkinghorn's Chambers , In Mr. Tulkinghorn's Room , In Trust , Interlopers , Jarndyce and Jarndyce , Jo's Will , More Old Soldiers Than One , Mrs Snagsby Sees It All , National and Domestic , Nurse and Patient , Obstinacy , Perspective , Pursuit , Sharpshooters , Springing a Mine , Steel and Iron , Stop Him! , The Appointed Time , The Close of Esther's Narrative , The Ironmaster , The Letter and the Answer , The Track , The Young Man