Dombey and son (Penguin Books)

Charles Dickens' "Dombey and Son" is a darkly witty tale of two siblings' struggle to achieve happiness in the shadow of their father's pride, edited with an introduction and notes żeby Andrew Sanders in "Penguin Classics".

To Paul Dombey, business is all and money can do anything. He runs his family life as he runs his firm: coldly, calculatingly and commercially. The only person he cares for is his frail son, grooming him for entry into the family business; his daughter Florence, abandoned and ignored, craves affection from her unloving father, who sees her only as a 'base coin that couldn't be invested'.

As Dombey's callousness extends to others - from his defiant second wife Edith, to Florence's admirer Walter Gay - he sows the seeds of his own destruction. Can this heartless businessman be redeemed? A compelling depiction of a man imprisoned żeby his own pride, "Dombey and Son" explores the devastating effects of emotional deprivation on a dysfunctional family and on society as a whole.

In his introduction, Andrew Sanders discusses the character of Paul Dombey, business and family relationships in "Dombey and Son" and their similarities to Dickens' own childhood.This edition also includes a chronology, further reading, appendices, notes and the original illustrations aby 'Phiz'.

Charles Dickens is one of the best-loved novelists in the English language, whose 200th anniversary was celebrated in 2012. His most famous books, including "Oliver Twist", "Great Expectations", "A Tale of Two Cities", "David Copperfield" and "The Pickwick Papers", have been adapted for stage and screen and read by millions.

If you liked "Dombey and Son", you might enjoy Dickens's "Martin Chuzzlewit", also available in "Penguin Classics". "There's no writing against such power as this - one has no chance." (William Makepeace Thackeray).