Summary
Bleak House centers around the long-running court case Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a legal dispute over a large inheritance that drags on endlessly in England’s Court of Chancery.
At the heart of the story is Esther Summerson, an orphan raised by the kindly John Jarndyce, one of the parties in the case.
As Esther navigates life, love, and uncovering the mystery of her own parentage, a wide cast of vividly drawn characters is swept into the corrupt, foggy world of the British legal system.
The novel intertwines personal drama with criticism of institutional bureaucracy, exposing how endless litigation can ruin lives. It’s both a mystery and a scathing social critique, with subplots involving murder, secrecy, mistaken identity, and even spontaneous combustion.