Bleak House

Bleak House is the ninth novel written by Charles Dickens and published in twenty installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It deals with a complex and extensive inheritance, whose protagonists are orphaned children.

The novel is set in and around London during the Victorian era, and focuses on the theme of justice. The dark case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an estate is gradually eaten up by court costs, is the central plot of the novel. Bleak House lawyer John Jarndyce tries to get the case resolved once and for all, but his efforts are in vain.

As the novel progresses, the tragic fates of the characters are revealed, including that of the orphaned children, who are the only ones who manage to get out of the judicial labyrinth in which they have been entangled.

Dickens' attack on the English judicial system caused the novel to have a great impact on public opinion, and contributed to the passage of judicial reforms.