From the agony of Charles Dickens disenchantment with the Victorian middle class comes a profound novel of spellbinding mystery... An orphan living with his older sister and her kindly husband Pip is hired by wealthy and embittered Miss Havisham as a companion for her and her beautiful adopted daughter Estella. His years in service to the Havishams fill his heart with the desire to rise above his station in life. Pip s wish is fulfilled when a mysterious benefactor provides him with great expectations --the means to be tutored as a gentleman. Thrust into London s high-society circles Pip grows accustomed to a life of leisure only to find himself lacking as a suitor competing for Estella s favor. After callously discarding everything he once valued for his own selfish pursuits Pip learns the identity of his patron--a revelation that shatters his very soul. With an Introduction by Stanley Weintraub and an Afterword by Annabel Davis-Goff