Great Expectations

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Mike Newell ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") and starring Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, and Jeremy Irvine as Pip. A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor-these form a series of events that change the orphan Pip's life forever, as he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens's haunting novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his great expectations. Published nine years before Dickens's death, it remains one of his most celebrated works.