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Bleak House

By Charles Dickens

Cover of Bleak House

Cover: The Morning, plate from Bleak House (1853), etching by Hablot Knight Browne, "Phiz" (1815-1882) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (artist died 1882)

Bleak House is a novel by the English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of Bleak House is a long-running legal case in the Court of Chancery, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which comes about because a testator has written several conflicting wills. In a preface to the 1853 first edition, Dickens said there were many actual precedents for his fictional case.

Summary source: Wikipedia: Bleak House · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Table of contents

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