Recommended by Otis Parker
A well known classic, Great Expectations tells the story of orphan Pip, an ordinary country boy brought up by his sister and her blacksmith husband.
At first Pip is content to live the simple life of a blacksmith that he seems destined for, but after a meeting with Miss Havisham and beautiful but icy-hearted Estella, Pip finds himself resentful of his more common status. Corrupted by his love for Estella, Pip leaves his loved ones behind and sets off to London in a quest to become a gentleman, sponsored by a mysterious benefactor.
Dickens’ genius as a storyteller grips the reader as he takes us through the twists and turns of the novel; his rich and detailed portrayal of a huge variety of characters truly making these turns hit harder as it engages his reader on a deeper emotional level.
The world he creates feels so authentic and spontaneous and yet as the story progresses we realise how beautifully constructed it is. Like a fish out of water, Pip is thrown into a world of upper-class pretension, a topic which Dickens’ ruthlessly satirises. This is a novel about class, identity and redemption, one that manages to combine humour, tragedy and romance whilst still underpinned by a driving and thrilling story.
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