BLEAK HOUSE (Historical Thriller Based on True Events) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Legal Thriller (Including "The Life of Charles Dickens" & Criticism)By Charles Dickens
Length91h 43m
About this audiobook
Bleak House is Dickens's vast, intricately plotted indictment of Victorian England, centered on the interminable Chancery suit Jarndyce and Jarndyce and the lives it corrodes. Combining mystery, social panorama, and elements of historical thriller drawn from contemporary legal abuses and urban realities, the novel moves between Esther Summerson's intimate narration and a panoramic present-tense voice. Its fog-bound imagery, satirical force, and proto-detective structure place it among the great realist novels of the nineteenth century. Charles Dickens wrote from close observation of institutions that shaped—and often damaged—ordinary lives. His early work as a legal clerk and parliamentary reporter exposed him to bureaucratic delay, class injustice, and the spectacle of public administration failing the vulnerable. By the time of Bleak House, Dickens was a mature novelist and reform-minded public figure, using fiction not merely to entertain but to anatomize the moral consequences of a society governed by inertia, secrecy, and self-interest. This book is strongly recommended to readers who value ambitious fiction that joins suspense with social criticism. It rewards patience with unforgettable characters, dark humor, and a searching vision of justice, compassion, and institutional decay.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, Mystery and Thriller
Length91 hrs 43 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateFeb 27, 2017
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1BLEAK HOUSE (Historical Thriller Based on True Events) (Annotated)
25APPRECIATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS by G. K. Chesterton (pt. 4)
2Introduction
26THE LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS by John Forster
3Synopsis
27Volume I. 1812-1842 (pt. 1)
4Historical Context
28Volume I. 1812-1842 (pt. 2)
5Author Biography
29Volume I. 1812-1842 (pt. 3)
Show all chaptersShow less
6BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 1)
30Volume I. 1812-1842 (pt. 4)
7BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 2)
31Volume I. 1812-1842 (pt. 5)
8BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 3)
32Volume II. 1842-1852 (pt. 1)
9BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 4)
33Volume II. 1842-1852 (pt. 2)
10BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 5)
34Volume II. 1842-1852 (pt. 3)
11BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 6)
35Volume II. 1842-1852 (pt. 4)
12BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 7)
36Volume II. 1842-1852 (pt. 5)
13BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 8)
37Volume II. 1842-1852 (pt. 6)
14BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 9)
38Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 1)
15BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 10)
39Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 2)
16BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 11)
40Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 3)
17BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 12)
41Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 4)
18BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 13)
42Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 5)
19BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 14)
43Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 6)
20BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 15)
44Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 7)
21BLEAK HOUSE (pt. 16)
45Volume III. 1852-1870 (pt. 8)
22APPRECIATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS by G. K. Chesterton (pt. 1)
46Analysis
23APPRECIATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS by G. K. Chesterton (pt. 2)
47Reflection
24APPRECIATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS by G. K. Chesterton (pt. 3)
48Memorable Quotes
David CopperfieldCharles Dickens40h 32m4.2 (587.5K)$47 · $0.00
DICKENS: Sämtliche Romane & NovellenCharles Dickens490h 49m4.6 (163)$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Christmas Murder Mysteries & ThrillersCharles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, George MacDonald, Arthur Cheney Train, Arthur Conan Doyle, Algernon Blackwood, Thomas Hardy, John Kendrick Bangs, Robert Barr, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Grant Allen, Wilkie Collins, O. Henry, Saki, Fergus Hume, Edgar Wallace, William Douglas O'Connor, Florence Marryat, Catherine Crowe, James Bowker, R. Austin Freeman, J. M. Barrie, E. F. Benson, G. K. Chesterton, Jerome K. Jerome, M. R. James, Fred M. White, Sabine Baring-Gould, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Frank R. Stockton, Louisa M. Alcott, Leonard Kip, Emmuska Orczy, Lucie E. Jackson, Katherine Rickford55h 32m$1.99 · $0.00
Weihnachts-Sammelband: Romane, Erzählungen und Gedichte für die Weihnachtszeit (Über 250 Titel in einem Buch) - Illustrierte AusgabeCharles Dickens, Goethe, Johanna Spyri, Agnes Sapper, Karl May, Theodor Fontane, Oscar Wilde, Selma Lagerlöf, Hans Christian Andersen, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Brüder Grimm, Martin Luther, Theodor Storm, Heinrich Heine, Peter Rosegger, E. T. A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, Ludwig Thoma, Manfred Kyber, Heinrich Seidel, Luise Büchner, Hermann Löns, Wilhelm Raabe, Georg Ebers, Adalbert Stifter, Paula Dehmel, Kurt Tucholsky, Walter Benjamin, Ludwig Bechstein, Rainer Maria Rilke, Clemens Brentano254h 53m4.4 (167)$2 · $0.00
Murder Mysteries for the Long Christmas NightCharles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, George MacDonald, Arthur Cheney Train, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, John Kendrick Bangs, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Grant Allen, Wilkie Collins, Saki, Fergus Hume, Edgar Wallace, William Douglas O'Connor, Florence Marryat, Catherine Crowe, James Bowker, R. Austin Freeman, J. M. Barrie, E. F. Benson, G. K. Chesterton, Jerome K. Jerome, Fred M. White, Sabine Baring-Gould, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Frank R. Stockton, Louisa M. Alcott, M.R. James, Leonard Kip, Emmuska Orczy, Lucie E. Jackson, Katherine Rickford, Bithia Mary Croker, Catherine L. Pirkis55h$1.99 · $0.00
The Best Holiday Mysteries for Christmas TimeCharles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, George MacDonald, Arthur Cheney Train, Arthur Conan Doyle, Algernon Blackwood, Thomas Hardy, John Kendrick Bangs, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Grant Allen, Wilkie Collins, Saki, Fergus Hume, Edgar Wallace, William Douglas O'Connor, Florence Marryat, Catherine Crowe, James Bowker, R. Austin Freeman, J. M. Barrie, E. F. Benson, G. K. Chesterton, Jerome K. Jerome, M. R. James, Fred M. White, Sabine Baring-Gould, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Frank R. Stockton, Louisa M. Alcott, Leonard Kip, Emmuska Orczy, Lucie E. Jackson, Katherine Rickford, Bithia Mary Croker, Catherine L. Pirkis55h 44m$1.99 · $0.00
The Jolly Roger Boxed-SetCharles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, William Hope Hodgson, Howard Pyle, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, Richard Le Gallienne, Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, Frederick Marryat, Washington Irving, Harold MacGrath, Max Pemberton, L. Frank Baum, R. M. Ballantyne, G. A. Henty, J. Allan Dunn, Robert E. Howard, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Johnson500h 20m$1.99 · $0.00
Mystique of the Darkness: 100+ Gothic ClassicsCharles Dickens, Friedrich Schiller, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, William Hope Hodgson, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, George MacDonald, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Bram Stoker, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, William Godwin, Henry James, Victor Hugo, Théophile Gautier, Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Conrad, Guy Boothby, Jane Austen, Mayne Reid, John Meade Falkner, Guy de Maupassant, George Eliot, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Hugh Benson, Horace Walpole, Frederick Marryat, Thomas Love Peacock, Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Gaston Leroux, Grant Allen, Arthur Machen, Wilkie Collins, Thomas Peckett Prest, James Malcolm Rymer, Robert Browning, Walter Hubbell, Marie Corelli, Charles Brockden Brown, James Hogg, William Blake, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, John Keats, Richard Marsh, Clara Reeve, Charles Robert Maturin, John William Polidori, Lord Byron, W. W. Jacobs, E. F. Benson, M. R. James, E. T. A. Hoffmann, George W. M. Reynolds, William Thomas Beckford, Christina Rossetti, Tobias Smollett, Nikolai Gogol, Mary Shelley, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Gregory Lewis, Eliza Parsons, Eleanor Sleath, Émile Erckmann, Alexandre Chatrian788h 2m$1.99 · $0.00
David CopperfieldCharles Dickens38h 36m4.2 (319.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Historias de FantasmasCharles Dickens6h 53m4.0 (3.2K)$9.99 · $0.00
Das große Weihnachtsband: Weihnachtsgeschichten, Romane, Märchen & Sagen (Über 280 Titel in einem Buch)Charles Dickens, Selma Lagerlöf, Beatrix Potter, Heinrich Heine, Else Ury, Johanna Spyri, Agnes Sapper, Karl May, Theodor Fontane, Oscar Wilde, Hans Christian Andersen, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Brüder Grimm, Martin Luther, Theodor Storm, Peter Rosegger, E. T. A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, Ludwig Thoma, Manfred Kyber, Heinrich Seidel, Luise Büchner, Hermann Löns, Wilhelm Raabe, Georg Ebers, Adalbert Stifter, Paula Dehmel, Kurt Tucholsky, Walter Benjamin, Ludwig Bechstein, Rainer Maria Rilke, Clemens Brentano328h 25m4.4 (112)$2 · $0.00
The Ultimate Collection of Dective Stories & Murder Mysteries for the HolidaysCharles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Anna Katharine Green, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, John Kendrick Bangs, Agatha Christie, Robert Barr, Ellis Parker Butler, Maurice Leblanc, Wilkie Collins, Grace Livingston Hill, Edgar Wallace, Melville Davisson Post, Paul Thorne, Mabel Thorne, Marion Harvey, R. Austin Freeman, A. E. W. Mason, E. W. Hornung, G. K. Chesterton, Victor L. Whitechurch383h 17m4.3 (11)$1.99 · $0.00
Weihnachtsgeschichten, Sagen und Märchen (Über 100 Titel in einem Buch) - Illustrierte AusgabeCharles Dickens, Adalbert Stifter, Goethe, Oscar Wilde, Selma Lagerlöf, Theodor Storm, Peter Rosegger, Hans Christian Andersen, Frances Hodgson Burnett, E. T. A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, Ludwig Thoma, Manfred Kyber, Heinrich Seidel, Luise Büchner, Brüder Grimm, Hermann Löns, Wilhelm Raabe, Georg Ebers, Paula Dehmel, Kurt Tucholsky, Walter Benjamin, Ludwig Bechstein75h 56m4.2 (111)$2 · $0.00
Verliebte Weihnachten: Die schönsten Liebesromane zum FestCharles Dickens, Agnes Günther, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Nataly von Eschstruth, Eugenie Marlitt, Elisabeth Bürstenbinder, O.Henry136h 12m$1 · $0.00
David CopperfieldCharles Dickens38h 36m4.2 (319.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
CHRISTMAS ESSENTIALS - The Greatest Novels, Tales & Poems for The Holiday Season: 180+ Titles in One Volume (Illustrated)Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, O. Henry, Mark Twain, Beatrix Potter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Hans Christian Andersen, Selma Lagerlöf, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Walter Scott, J. M. Barrie, Anthony Trollope, Brothers Grimm, L. Frank Baum, Lucy Maud Montgomery, George MacDonald, Leo Tolstoy, Henry van Dyke, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Clement Moore, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Butler Yeats, Eleanor H. Porter, Jacob A. Riis, Susan Anne Livingston, Ridley Sedgwick, Sophie May, Lucas Malet, Juliana Horatia Ewing, Alice Hale Burnett, Ernest Ingersoll, Annie F. Johnston, Amanda M. Douglas, Amy Ella Blanchard, Carolyn Wells, Walter Crane334h 38m$1.99 · $0.00
Die schönsten Weihnachts-Klassiker zur schönsten Zeit des JahresCharles Dickens, Karl May, Johanna Spyri, Selma Lagerlöf, Heinrich Heine, Agnes Sapper, Theodor Fontane, Oscar Wilde, Hans Christian Andersen, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Brüder Grimm, Martin Luther, Theodor Storm, Peter Rosegger, E. T. A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, Ludwig Thoma, Manfred Kyber, Heinrich Seidel, Luise Büchner, Hermann Löns, Wilhelm Raabe, Georg Ebers, Adalbert Stifter, Paula Dehmel, Kurt Tucholsky, Walter Benjamin, Ludwig Bechstein, Rainer Maria Rilke, Clemens Brentano328h 5m4.4 (122)$1 · $0.00
Believe in Love & Joy: The Collection of the Greatest Christmas Novels, Stories, Carols & Legends (Illustrated Edition)Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Mark Twain, Beatrix Potter, Louisa May Alcott, William Shakespeare, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Hans Christian Andersen, Selma Lagerlöf, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Martin Luther, Walter Scott, J. M. Barrie, Anthony Trollope, Brothers Grimm, L. Frank Baum, Lucy Maud Montgomery, George Macdonald, Leo Tolstoy, Henry Van Dyke, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Clement Moore, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Butler Yeats, Eleanor H. Porter, Jacob A. Riis, Susan Anne Livingston, Ridley Sedgwick, Sophie May, Lucas Malet, Juliana Horatia Ewing, Alice Hale Burnett, Ernest Ingersoll, Annie F. Johnston, Amanda M. Douglas, Amy Ella Blanchard, Carolyn Wells, Walter Crane, Thomas Nelson Page, Florence L. Barclay, A. S. Boyd, Booker T. Washington, Lucy Wheelock, Aunt Hede, Frederick E. Dewhurst, Maud Lindsay, Marjorie L. C. Pickthall441h 53m$1.99 · $0.00
Christmas Murder Mystery Boxed-SetCharles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Anna Katharine Green, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, John Kendrick Bangs, Agatha Christie, Robert Barr, Ellis Parker Butler, Maurice Leblanc, Wilkie Collins, Grace Livingston Hill, Edgar Wallace, Melville Davisson Post, Paul Thorne, Mabel Thorne, R. Austin Freeman, A. E. W. Mason, E. W. Hornung, G. K. Chesterton, Victor L. Whitechurch383h 15m$1.99 · $0.00
A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens3h 7m4.3 (1.1M)$6 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Satires & Essays of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain23h 21m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery10h 58m4.5 (46.7K)$1 · $0.00
The Posthumous Memoirs Of Brás CubasMachado De Assis7h 39m4.4 (120.4K)$5 · $0.00
The Iliad & The OdysseyHomer25h 12m4.4 (39K)$12 · $0.00
The Rose CodeKate Quinn16h 2m4.4 (493.7K)$33 · $0.00
Deadly Badlands PursuitSharee Stover5h 53m4.6 (361)$12 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
Three ComradesErich Maria Remarque15h 50m4.5 (47.3K)$2 · $0.00
AngelAnita Waller10h 30m4.6 (672)$30 · $0.00
The BorderDon Winslow29h 8m4.5 (35.7K)$53 · $0.00
FlashpointCatherine Coulter11h 38m4.5 (11.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Fang Si-Chi's First Love ParadiseYi-Han Lin8h 25m4.5 (4K)$26 · $0.00
No Woman Left BehindJulie Moffett8h 49m4.5 (3K)$25 · $0.00
CovertJanie Crouch6h 15m4.5 (2K)$12 · $0.00
Cold Case InvestigationNicole Helm5h 30m4.6 (321)$5 · $0.00
The ReunionJana DeLeon6h 31m4.5 (1.6K)$12 · $0.00
Courage Under FireSharon Dunn5h 50m4.5 (730)$24 · $0.00
Decoding the TruthJulie Miller7h 31m4.6 (350)$12 · $0.00
Murder Gone ColdB.J. Daniels5h 50m4.5 (562)$12 · $0.00
Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevsky23h 14m4.4 (1.3M)$1 · $0.00
Exit FeeBrad Taylor3h 16m4.5 (1.9K)$18 · $0.00
Sworn to ProtectShirlee McCoy5h 7m4.5 (1K)$12 · $0.00
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
You may also like
Bleak HouseCharles Dickens38h 32m4.2 (134.6K)$3.50 · $0.00
Bleak HouseCharles Dickens38h 32m4.2 (151.9K)$1.20 · $0.00
Bleak HouseCharles Dickens34h 7m4.2 (150.8K)$2.30
Bleak HouseCharles Dickens32h 58m4.2 (262.3K)$30
Our Mutual FriendCharles Dickens36h 36m4.0 (40.8K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Hand on the WallMaureen Johnson8h 36m4.2 (122.8K)$26 · $0.00
Bleak HouseCharles Dickens38h 58m4.1 (143.4K)$1 · $0.00
This Body of DeathElizabeth George23h 45m4.0 (26.6K)$46 · $0.00
Truly DeviousMaureen Johnson10h 13m4.1 (354K)$29 · $0.00
True BlueDiana Palmer5h 45m4.1 (3.2K)$12 · $0.00
Bleak HouseCharles Dickens38h 29m4.2 (160.6K)$2.30 · $0.00
OrientChristopher Bollen21h 37m3.6 (3.7K)$46 · $0.00
The Secret of Bagnett HallNorman Russell6h 11m4.2 (731)$17
Down the Rabbit HolePeter Abrahams8h 3m3.9 (7.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesSir Arthur Conan Doyle9h 8m4.4 (388.8K)$20
Dying to WinPatricia H. Rushford5h 14m4.2 (296)$17
All the Best LiesJoanna Schaffhausen10h 49m4.2 (3.3K)$20
Judgment CallJ. A. Jance10h 44m4.2 (9.6K)$29 · $0.00
A Cool Breeze on the UndergroundDon Winslow9h 52m$20
EUGÉNE VALMONT & SHERLAW KOMBS: THE SUPER SLEUTHS (Mystery Classics Series) (Annotated)Robert Barr11h 33m$2 · $0.00