Bleak House

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.

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.

Penguin Clothbound Classics are bound in cloth and not paper. The design is stamped on in foil, and each cover repeats one small icon taken from the story. The series was designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, who took her inspiration from Victorian bookbinding. Each book has coloured endpapers and a ribbon bookmark. They make beautiful presents.

The foil can rub off if the books are stacked tightly, so give them a little room on the shelf.

Author: Charles Dickens

Classic fiction (pre c 1945)

Published on 6 Oct 2011 by Penguin Books Ltd.