Great Expectations (Flame Tree Collectable Classics)

Little treasures, the FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning, gift edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader.

Dicken's cast of characters, from the orphan Pip, Miss Haversham and Estella to the aptly named Magwitch takes the reader through a Victorian society riven with social ills, and misplaced ambition. Pip, a blacksmith's apprentice encounters and helps the escaped convict Magwitch who subsequently repays the boy with a secret fortune. Pip misunderstands the source of elevation, thinking it comes from the high society of Miss Haversham and her cold-hearted daughter whom he adores. His wilfull naivety is exposed throughout as Estella's disdain for Pip makes him try ever harder, to the detriment of `joe Gargery and Mrs Joe, the good people who raised him in poverty at the forge. Ultimately Miss Haversham burns to death in a fire and Magwitch dies in prison leaving a chastened Pip without his fortune. At the end all is resolved when finally he wins Estella's heart.

The iconic and much-loved Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, though he spent much of his life in Kent and London. A prolific writer, Dickens kept up a career in journalism as well as writing short stories and novels, with much of his work being serialised before being published as books. He gave a view of contemporary England with a strong sense of realism, yet instilled his stories with a sense of charm, fantastic characters and humour like no other. He continued to work himself hard up until his death in 1870, leaving 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' unfinished.

Judith John (Glossary) is a writer and editor specializing in literature and history. She has worked as an editor on major educational projects, including English A: Literature for the Pearson International Baccalaureate series. Judith’s major research interests include Romantic and Gothic literature, and Renaissance drama.