“There were two classes of charitable people: one, the people who did a little and made a great deal of noise; the other, the people who did a great deal and made no noise at all.”― Charles Dickens, Bleak House
Bleak House is one of my favorite books by Charles Dickens and is considered one of his more ambitious novels. Many of his books revolve around a social issue and in this book, that issue is the British legal system. Jarndyce and Jarndyce is a long running court case regarding a will. There are multiple copies of the will and each name a different beneficiary, thus the case grinds its way slowly through the Court of Chancery. The case brings together a disparate cast of characters: Ada and Richard Clare, cousins who are the beneficiaries of one of the wills; Esther Summerson, a ward of the court whose past may not be what she has always believed; Tulkinghorn, a menacing lawyer; Inspector Bucket, a detective; and Jo, a young, impoverished crossing street sweeper. This book has a little bit of everything–drama, secrets, villains, a wonderful heroine, and enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing as to the final outcome.
Through Bleak House Dickens offers a savage but often humorous indictment of a society he views as thoroughly corrupt. Dickens based this story on actual long running court cases. In one such case, the contested will was initially read in 1797 and not decided until 1859! Though many thought Dickens greatly exaggerated his satire of the legal system. Bleak House was influential in bringing about judicial reform.
Content Advisory: Death, domestic abuse, suicide