Great Expectations

What this cautionary tale of a young man raised high above his station by
a mysterious benefactor lacks in length, it more than makes up for in its
remarkable characters and compelling story. The novel begins with young
orphaned Philip Pirrip--Pip--running afoul of an escaped convict in a
cemetery. This terrifying personage bullies Pip into stealing food and a
file for him, threatening that if he tells a soul "your heart and your
liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate." The boy does as he's asked, but
the convict is captured anyway, and transported to the penal colonies in
Australia. Having started his novel in a cemetery, Dickens then ups the
stakes and introduces his hero into the decaying household of Miss
Havisham, a wealthy, half-mad woman who was jilted on her wedding day many
years before and has never recovered. Pip is brought there to play with
Miss Havisham's ward, Estella, a little girl who delights in tormenting Pip
about his rough hands and future as a blacksmith's apprentice.