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					Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
		Pip is an orphan, alone in the world. Then his path crosses with that of an escaped convict, and his life is never the same again. From the decaying mansion of Miss Havisham and her cold, beautiful ward, Estella, to a new world of unexpected wealth, Pip must struggle to find his way. Mysterious forces are at work, shaping his life in a conspiracy of love, fear, fate, and chance. Pip knows the kind of life he was meant to lead. What he doesn't know is whether life will lead him in an altogether different - and startling - direction.
			About the Author: Born near Portsmouth, England, Charles Dickens was the son of a navy pay clerk. Early in his life, Dickens's father was sent to the debtors' prison and Charles was put to work in a warehouse producing blacking for boots. On his father's release, Dickens, then aged 12, was sent to a school where he suffered at the hands of a cruel headmaster. Dickens went on to learn shorthand and became a parliamentary reporter. Later, he started writing for magazines, using the pen name "Boz." His first book was Pickwick Papers, published initially in twenty monthly parts. He was just 25 years old. It set him on the road to becoming a literary "pop star" of his day. Dickens was to relive many of his life's experiences in David Copperfield. It was very much a story based on his own life. Serialized over twenty months during 1849 and 1850, David Copperfield was, Dickens said, the favorite of all his books. Dickens wrote 13 other novels: Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge, Martin Chuzzlewit (followed by A Christmas Carol, one of several annual Christmas books), Dombey and Son, Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend. During his life, Dickens, an excellent actor, gave hugely popular readings of his books, toured America, campaigned for international copyright laws, supported many humanitarian issues of the day, including the abolition of slavery, and numbered Queen Victoria and Dostoevsky among his enthusiasts. He was married to his wife Catherine for 22 years and they had a large family. A separation between him and his wife was agreed upon in 1856 and Dickens formed a relationship with the actress Ellen Ternan. He died in 1870 with his latest book, Edwin Drood, unfinished.