21 h 1 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 516 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 516 pagesAbout this book
What if becoming a gentleman means turning away from the people who love you?
On the bleak Kent marshes, the orphan Pip meets an escaped convict who frightens him into helping. At home, gentle blacksmith Joe Gargery offers kindness against his sister’s harsh rule. Then Pip enters Miss Havisham’s decaying house, meets the proud Estella, and begins to feel ashamed of everything he comes from.
When Mr Jaggers brings news of a fortune from an unknown benefactor, Pip sees a chance to become a gentleman. London promises fine clothes, new manners, and distance from the forge. In Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, ambition puts friendship and loyalty at risk, while secrets unsettle Pip’s hopes for the life he wants.
What you’ll discover
- A boy divided Follow Pip as his hunger to rise strains his bond with the kindhearted Joe.
- The house of stopped clocks Enter Miss Havisham’s shuttered world, where an old wedding dress keeps bitterness close.
- Secrets behind the fortune Watch a guarded lawyer manage Pip’s affairs while the source of his wealth remains hidden.
- The price of gentility Explore the gap between fine manners and kindness through Pip’s uneasy pursuit of status.
- Humor beside the hurt Find sharp comedy and warmth among the strange houses, wounded hopes, and difficult choices.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like rich characters, secrets and a moral story told with humor and heart. It also suits anyone who has felt ashamed of where they come from. Those who want fast modern pacing may find the Victorian detail slow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A boy meets a convict on the marsh
- Joe's kindness against Mrs Joe's hard hand
- Satis House and the girl who wounds him
- Shame grows and Pip wants to be a gentleman
- Mr Jaggers brings a startling offer
- London, Herbert Pocket and the ways of Little Britain
- Pip drifts from Joe and falls into debt
- What the book says about class, guilt and love
- How Dickens tells it: voice, mist and symbols
Who’s who
- PipAn orphan raised at a village forge, who longs to rise above his low origins and win the girl he loves.
- Joe GargeryThe gentle village blacksmith, married to Pip's sister, who treats Pip as a friend and wants only that he be well.
- Miss HavishamA wealthy, embittered woman who lives in a shuttered house in her old wedding dress, with all the clocks stopped.
- EstellaA beautiful, proud girl raised by Miss Havisham, who tells Pip she has no heart and cannot love him.
- Mr JaggersA powerful London criminal lawyer, guarded and shrewd, who manages Pip's affairs and never explains his clients.
- Herbert PocketA cheerful, penniless young man who becomes Pip's closest friend and teaches him the manners of the city.
- WemmickJaggers's clerk, dry at work but warm at home, where he lives in a tiny castle with his father.
- MagwitchThe escaped convict Pip helps on the marsh as a child, whose stern gratitude shapes the story later.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 21 h 1 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 516 pages: USD 16.95 when you start free, USD 22.95 on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 516 pages: USD 23.95 when you start free, USD 29.95 on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: USD 0.14 a day, then USD 0.27 a day, never raised. Or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Great Expectations in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens· 1860
A poor orphan gains wealth and longs to become a gentleman.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: English
“When people say Dickens exaggerates, it seems to me they can have no eyes and no ears.”
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A boy meets a convict on the marsh
The story opens in a country churchyard on the Kent marshes, on a raw evening. A small boy is looking at the gravestones of his parents and his five little brothers. His name is Philip Pirrip, but he has always called himself Pip, because that was all his infant tongue could manage. He is an orphan, and the world he knows is flat, wet and cold.
Suddenly a man leaps up from among the graves. He is a convict in heavy irons, soaked, lame and starving. He seizes Pip, turns him upside down and demands food. Then he makes a worse demand. Pip must bring him a file to cut off his leg iron, and he must tell no one.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
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).
“My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.”
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More by Charles Dickens
All 27 books
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about Great Expectations
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy just the printed book?
Yes. The paperback costs USD 22.95 on its own. Start free and you pay the cost of printing: USD 16.95 for this paperback, and any other book at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is Great Expectations about?
It tells the life of Pip, an orphan raised by his sister and her blacksmith husband in Kent. A sudden offer of wealth takes him to London, where he learns what ambition, shame and loyalty really mean.
Who is Miss Havisham in Great Expectations?
Miss Havisham is a rich, reclusive woman who lives in Satis House, wearing her old wedding dress with every clock stopped. She raises Estella and invites Pip to visit, and she shapes much of his life.
What does the title Great Expectations mean?
It refers to Pip's hopes of becoming a gentleman and gaining a fine future, and also to what others expect of him. The novel questions whether such hopes lead to happiness or to harm.
Popular in classics
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
