Bleak House

First issued in 1852-53, this novel turns on the Chancery suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, an inheritance case that has lasted for generations. Esther Summerson, a young woman of uncertain parentage, narrates much of the story after she is taken in at Bleak House by the kindly John Jarndyce. Around her move the proud Lady Dedlock, the lawyer Tulkinghorn, the street-sweeper Jo, and a crowd of suitors, hangers-on, and ruined litigants. A parallel third-person narrative follows the Dedlock household and a murder investigation. The book is at once a mystery of identity, a satire of the law's delay, and a panorama of London from slum to great house.

Quarter-bound in blue buckram with brown paper sides, cover blocked in gilt on cover with a phrase. Brown endpapers. Dark blue slipcase.