Bleak House (1852–1853) is a novel by Charles Dickens built around the endless Chancery lawsuit Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Half told by an omniscient narrator and half by the young orphan Esther Summerson, it combines satire of the law, a murder mystery and a family secret.
The story
The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has dragged on for generations, ruining everyone it touches. John Jarndyce takes in his young cousins Ada and Richard, and Esther as Ada's companion.
Meanwhile the proud Lady Dedlock hides a past that the lawyer Tulkinghorn is determined to uncover. When he is murdered, Inspector Bucket investigates, and Esther discovers who her mother is.
A satire of Chancery
Dickens attacks the Court of Chancery, whose delays and costs were notorious. The novel opens in London fog, the image of the court's confusion.
Inspector Bucket is one of the first police detectives in English fiction, inspired by Inspector Charles Field of Scotland Yard.
Two narrators
Dickens alternates a present-tense, impersonal narrator with Esther's modest first-person account, an unusual structure that critics have much discussed.
The novel appeared in twenty monthly parts, illustrated by Phiz, from March 1852 to September 1853.
Anecdotes
Spontaneous combustion
A rag-and-bottle dealer called Krook dies of spontaneous combustion in the novel. When critics objected, Dickens defended the idea in his preface, citing reported cases.
A real lawsuit
Dickens said in his preface that a real Chancery case was then in progress after nearly twenty years, with costs of over seventy thousand pounds.
Frequently asked questions
What is Jarndyce and Jarndyce?
The interminable inheritance lawsuit at the centre of the novel.
Who narrates Bleak House?
An impersonal narrator and Esther Summerson, in alternating chapters.
Who is Inspector Bucket?
One of the first police detectives in English fiction.