Bleak House

With an Introduction and Notes by Doreen Roberts; University of Kent at Canterbury. Illustrations by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz). Bleak House is one of Dickens' finest achievements; establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist; as well as a brilliant comic writer. It is at once a complex mystery story that fully engages the reader in the work of detection; and an unforgettable indictment of an indifferent society. Its representations of a great city's underworld; and of the law's corruption and delay; draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. But it is his symbolic art that projects these things in a vision that embraces black comedy; cosmic farce; and tragic ruin. In a unique creative experiment; Dickens divides the narrative between his heroine; Esther Summerson; who is psychologically interesting in her own right; and an unnamed narrator whose perspective both complements and challenges hers.