Bleak House: with an Introduction by Peter Ackroyd

As the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce—a long and hopeless lawsuit over a disputed will—drags slowly on through the courts, it begins to wear down all those caught in its complicated web. Esther Summerson, an orphan placed in the care of the kind and gentle John Jarndyce at Bleak House, can only watch on as the people she loves are consumed by the proceedings. But when Esther's past comes looking for her, will the discovery of her true identity finally lead her to the answers she has been searching for?