Bleak House

Charles Dickens

• Publisher: The Classics
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9789895624805
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

As the interminable case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1 — In Chancery
• Chapter 2 — In Fashion
• Chapter 3 — A Progress
• Chapter 4 — Telescopic Philanthropy
• Chapter 5 — A Morning Adventure
• Chapter 6 — Quite at Home
• Chapter 7 — The Ghost’s Walk
• Chapter 8 — Covering a Multitude of Sins
• Chapter 9 — Signs and Tokens
• Chapter 10 — The Law–Writer
• Chapter 11 — Our Dear Brother
• Chapter 12 — On the Watch
• Chapter 13 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 14 — Deportment
• Chapter 15 — Bell Yard
• Chapter 16 — Tom-all–Alone’s
• Chapter 17 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 18 — Lady Dedlock
• Chapter 19 — Moving On
• Chapter 20 — A New Lodger
• Chapter 21 — The Smallweed Family
• Chapter 22 — Mr. Bucket
• Chapter 23 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 24 — An Appeal Case
• Chapter 25 — Mrs. Snagsby Sees It All
• Chapter 26 — Sharpshooters
• Chapter 27 — More Old Soldiers Than One
• Chapter 28 — The Ironmaster
• Chapter 29 — The Young Man
• Chapter 30 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 31 — Nurse and Patient
• Chapter 32 — The Appointed Time
• Chapter 33 — Interlopers
• Chapter 34 — A Turn of the Screw
• Chapter 35 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 36 — Chesney Wold
• Chapter 37 — Jarndyce and Jarndyce
• Chapter 38 — A Struggle
• Chapter 39 — Attorney and Client
• Chapter 40 — National and Domestic
• Chapter 41 — In Mr. Tulkinghorn’s Room
• Chapter 42 — In Mr. Tulkinghorn’s Chambers
• Chapter 43 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 44 — The Letter and the Answer
• Chapter 45 — In Trust
• Chapter 46 — Stop Him!
• Chapter 47 — Jo’s Will
• Chapter 48 — Closing in
• Chapter 49 — Dutiful Friendship
• Chapter 50 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 51 — Enlightened
• Chapter 52 — Obstinacy
• Chapter 53 — The Track
• Chapter 54 — Springing a Mine
• Chapter 55 — Flight
• Chapter 56 — Pursuit
• Chapter 57 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 58 — A Wintry Day and Night
• Chapter 59 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 60 — Perspective
• Chapter 61 — A Discovery
• Chapter 62 — Another Discovery
• Chapter 63 — Steel and Iron
• Chapter 64 — Esther’s Narrative
• Chapter 65 — Beginning the World
• Chapter 66 — Down in Lincolnshire
• Chapter 67 — The Close of Esther’s Narrative