The most important novel by Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations," follows the journey of the story's narrator, the orphan Philip Pirrip (Pip), from his years living as an apprentice blacksmith in a small village to his adulthood and residence in London. From the famous dramatic opening scene in the marshes of Kent, the story is filled with some of Dickens's most memorable characters. The kind-hearted blacksmith Joe Gargery, the mysterious convict Abel Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham with her beautiful ward Estella, Pip's good-natured roommate Herbert Pocket, and the pompous Pumblechook.

As Pip gradually uncovers the truth behind his "great expectations" through his struggle to become a gentleman, the mysteries of the past and the complications of fate, through a sequence of thrilling adventures, lead him to maturity and the most significant discovery of all - the truth about himself. "Great Expectations" is one of the most beloved and widely read novels in the world. The author portrays, with humor but also dramatic intensity, the dark plot of the Victorian era of the 19th century.