Little Dorrit

Acclaimed by George Bernard Shaw as Dickens' "masterpiece among many masterpieces," this great sprawling novel first appeared in monthly installments from 1855–57. The tale of a sweet-natured seamstress who dwells with her family in a debtors' prison, it abounds in the famous storyteller's  deft characterization. Blending tragedy, comedy, and mystery, its satire of corrupt bureaucracies remains as relevant to our time as it was to the author's.