Physical description

Little Dorrit.
Author: Charles Dickens.
Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd, London.
Date: 1890s. (See note section this document for more information on Edition).
Green cloth hardcover with Authors name to front cover in gold. Spine has gold title lettering. The spine has a Library label.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on spine cover with typed text PAT 823.8 DIC
Paste down front end paper has sticker from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute.
Front fly cover has Title and Publisher Details.

Summary

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations.
Little Dorrit is about Amy “Little” Dorrit, a gentle, selfless woman born and raised in the Marshalsea debtors’ prison where her father, William Dorrit, has been imprisoned for unpaid debts. The story follows her as she works as a seamstress outside the prison, gradually becoming entangled with Arthur Clennam, a businessman returning from abroad. Dickens interweaves a sharp critique of Victorian bureaucracy, finance, and class throughout the story.
The theme centers around Amy Dorrit who lives her whole early life in Marshalsea, supporting her family with quiet dignity while her father clings to fragile genteel pretensions. Arthur Clennam, disillusioned after years in China, becomes involved with the Dorrits and uncovers a web of secrets involving his own mother, a hidden inheritance, and shady business dealings.
William Dorrit suddenly inherits a fortune and is able to lift the family out of poverty and into fashion conscious society.The novel shows how money distorts their characters and relationships, while Amy remains the moral centre.