40 h 27 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the fortune you build for your family keeps you from seeing the child who loves you?
Paul Dombey owns a London shipping firm and wants a son to carry on its name. When little Paul arrives, his father plans the boy's future in detail. Yet Florence Dombey, his gentle, neglected daughter, keeps hoping for something no business can provide: her father's affection.
In Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens moves from London's trading streets to Brighton's seaside and a small instrument shop near the docks. Railways tear through Camden Town as commerce reshapes the city. Around the Dombeys gather loyal friends, sharp tongues and hidden ambitions, while pride threatens the bonds that might hold a family together.
What you’ll discover
- A daughter still hoping Follow Florence as she keeps reaching for a father who scarcely acknowledges her.
- An heir with questions Meet little Paul, whose thoughtful questions unsettle the adults planning his life.
- Friends beyond the firm Find warmth with cheerful Walter Gay, loyal Captain Cuttle and outspoken Susan Nipper.
- A city torn open Walk through a Camden Town neighbourhood where the coming railway breaks apart familiar streets.
- Comedy close to sorrow Feel Dickens move between laughter and heartbreak as he examines money, family and pride.
Who will love it
For readers who love richly peopled Victorian novels about families, money and city life, with comedy, sorrow and friendships built on kindness.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A son is born and a mother dies
- Staggs's Gardens and the coming railway
- Paul grows frail and Florence loves him
- Walter Gay, the Wooden Midshipman and Carker
- Dombey looks for a new wife
- A marriage that is a battle of wills
- Pride and money cannot buy what matters
- Love, home and a world in motion
- How Dickens tells it: voice, names and symbols
Who’s who
- Paul DombeyA rich, proud shipping merchant who wants a son to carry on his firm and cannot see the love close to him.
- Florence DombeyHis neglected daughter, gentle and loyal, who keeps hoping for her father's affection despite every rebuff.
- Little PaulThe frail, thoughtful son whose future his father plans in great detail, and who is closest to his sister.
- Walter GayA cheerful young clerk at the firm, nephew of an instrument maker, and a steady friend to Florence.
- Captain CuttleA kind, muddled retired sea captain with a hook for a hand, loyal to Walter and his uncle.
- James CarkerThe firm's smiling, polished manager, trusted by Dombey, whose true aims are hidden behind perfect manners.
- Edith GrangerA beautiful, proud widow raised to be sold in marriage, who accepts Dombey's offer with bitterness and contempt.
- Susan NipperFlorence's quick-tongued maid, fiercely loyal and unafraid to tell her betters what she thinks.
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- Audiobook
- 40 h 27 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Dombey and Son
by Charles Dickens · 1846
A London shipping merchant dreams of a son to inherit his firm and overlooks the daughter who loves him.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A son is born and a mother dies
The novel opens in the Dombey house with the birth of a boy. Mr Dombey is the head of the firm of Dombey and Son, dealing in shipping and trade, and he has waited years for this day. To him the firm is the world, and the world exists so that the firm may go on. A son means the name will stand over the door for another generation.
His wife, Fanny, is weak after the birth and does not recover. Her death lands in the house almost as an interruption. Dombey grieves for the loss only in a cold, formal way, and his chief concern is how to feed and rear the baby. Beside the bed stands their small daughter, Florence, who is about six. She is not wanted and not noticed, and she reaches for her dying mother with an ache that the whole book will keep returning to.
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What is Dombey and Son about?
It follows Mr Dombey, a proud London shipping merchant who wants a son to inherit his firm, and who neglects his loving daughter Florence. It deals with pride, money, family and a changing city.
When was Dombey and Son written and published?
Dickens wrote it in 1846 to 1848 and published it in monthly instalments. He began writing while living abroad. It is fiction, but it draws on the real change of London during the railway age.
Who is Carker in Dombey and Son?
James Carker is the manager of Dombey's firm. He is smooth, polite and smiling, with prominent white teeth, and Dombey trusts him deeply. Dickens makes the reader uneasy about him from the start.
The author
Charles Dickens
1812–1870 · English novelist
Charles Dickens was an English novelist born in Portsmouth in 1812. He lived in London and later at Gad’s Hill Place in Kent, where he died in 1870. His books include The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849–1850), and Great Expectations (1860–1861).
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