Bleak House

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:<UL type=disc><LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Biographies of the authors <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Footnotes and endnotes <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Comments by other famous authors <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Bibliographies for further reading <LI style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto class=MsoNormal>Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences&#151;biographical, historical, and literary&#151;to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. <P style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt class=MsoNormal>Often considered Charles Dickens's masterpiece, Bleak House blends together several literary genres&#151;detective fiction, romance, melodrama, and satire&#151;to create an unforgettable portrait of the decay and corruption at the heart of English law and society in the Victorian era. Opening in the swirling mists of London, the novel revolves around a court case that has dragged on for decades&#151;the infamous Jarndyce and Jarndyce lawsuit, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs. As Dickens takes us through the case's history, he presents a cast of characters as idiosyncratic and memorable as any he ever created, including the beautiful Lady Dedlock, who hides a shocking secret about an illegitimate child and a long-lost love; Mr. Bucket, one of the first detectives to appear in English fiction; and the hilarious Mrs. Jellyby, whose endless philanthropy has left her utterly unconcerned about her own family. As a question of inheritance becomes a question of murder, the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, struggles to discover the truth about her birth and her unknown mother's tragic life. Can the resilience of her love transform a bleak house? And&#151;more devastatingly&#151;will justice prevail?<P style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt> <P style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Tatiana M. Holway received her Ph. D. from Columbia University. A specialist in Victorian literature and society, she has published a number of articles on Dickens and has taught at a variety of undergraduate institutions.