Bleak House cover art

Bleak House

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Bleak House

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Hugh Dickson
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has ground its way through the courts for generations. At its heart are Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, who find love - and terrible loss - through their involvement in the endless battle.

Meanwhile, her friend Esther Summeson, who believes she is an orphan, gradually discovers the truth of her identity. The court case throws out a web ensnaring all who come near it, including Lady Dedlock, the menacing lawyer Tulkingham, detective Bucket and tragic little waif Jo.

Secrets emerge, crimes are committed and love affairs bloom. But will anyone ever benefit from the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce?

©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Heartfelt

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Classic Starts® cover art
Little Dorrit cover art
The Pickwick Papers: Dickens on Dickens cover art
The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens cover art
Nicholas Nickleby cover art
Our Mutual Friend cover art
Hard Times cover art
Great Expectations cover art
Barnaby Rudge cover art
David Copperfield cover art
Martin Chuzzlewit cover art
Sketches by Boz: Volume 1 cover art
The Old Curiosity Shop cover art
A Tale of Two Cities cover art
Dombey and Son cover art
Middlemarch cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Even (make it specially) if you've read this a few times, it's worth listening to this version. Hugh Dickson does an amazing job.

A Great Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Now, first of all let me just acknowledge to all purists that i am aware that it is not entirely the done thing to criticize a much celebrated writer of what is supposed to be called classic literature in the strictest sense of the word but criticize is all I can do of a man whom is celebrated as a great master of the art of Victorian writing. This book is probably the worst example of what might be described as part caracature and part self-portrait I have ever heard. Trying to be funny and yet corny this book ahs no plot and nothing to hold the attention. The characters spend money they don't have since it's supposedly all tied up in a lawsuit which is so tangled up there's no way out of it yet money is of no object. The characters themselves are by turns sentimental, annoying and unlikely. In short this example of classic literature is simply unworthy of its craft or its author. Don't read it if you think of yourself as a Dickens fan or you'll change your mind unless there's something I'm missing here. The book is too long and not at all engaging. The narator just about saves it from complete disaster.

Please excuse and forgive me if I should yawn or fall asleep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of my favourite Dickens novels, although to be fair, Esther can be a wee bit irritating, especially when she jingles her little basket of keys while talking to herself in the mirror! However, Lady D. is a stunning character and Tulkinghorn is superbly interpreted by the narrator. Yes, it's long and also - being Victorian - it has its fair share of sanctimonious moralising, but it's brilliantly constructed and a jolly fine listen.
!

A classic Classic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Charles Dickens what can one say - amazing number of characters, means you need to focus or rewind (which I did a lot). I enjoyed the book though.

Classic audiobook

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was a really great story but I felt that there were too many deaths. Did all those characters really HAVE to die. You were just beginning to like a character and then they were killed off. This was a very well told story and I will most likely listen to it again. I highly recommend.

Brilliant story but too many deaths

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews