Read this when
Great Expectations
Glow-up arc, 1861 edition: gets rich, becomes embarrassed by the man who raised him, learns the hard way. 🎩
Who it's for
The novel is an anatomy of class shame: young Pip, told at Satis House that his hands are coarse and his boots thick, learns to be ashamed of Joe and the forge, and readers who have moved between worlds recognise the feeling instantly.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Charles Dickens's novel, serialized in All the Year Round from 1860 to 1861, is narrated by Pip, an orphan raised in Kent by his sister and her husband, the blacksmith Joe Gargery. After meetings with an escaped convict and with the reclusive Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella, Pip is given money by an unknown benefactor and goes to London to become a gentleman, where he grows ashamed of Joe.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US; free on Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks. In print, from libraries, and as an audiobook.
Before you start
Heads up: Child beating and a fatal burning.
Age: Ages 14+
Out, damned spot! out, I say!William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1
