Dombey and Son

'"Dombey and Son" ... Those three words conveyed the one idea of Mr Dombey's life. The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in, the sun and moon were made to give them light. Rivers and seas were formed to float their ships'

To Paul Dombey, business is everything. He runs his domestic affairs as he runs his firm: coldly, calculatingly and commercially, neglecting his two wives and his daughter Florence. In Dombey's mercantile terms, she is 'merely a base coin that couldn't be invested'. Through this portrayal of a dysfunctional family, where hearts have no market value, Dickens creates a broader picture of a society that places profit above compassion. He also explores the possibility of redemption through familial love, for it is Dombey's relationship with Florence, his emotional deprivation and eventual fulfillment that form the heart of the book. Despite its world of bustling commerce, roaring streets and railways, Dombey and Son is in many ways 'Dickens's most domestic novel'.

This volume uses the text of Dickens's first edition of 1848.

• with an introduction, suggestions for further reading, Dickens chronology, full explanatory notes, original illustrations by 'Phiz', appendices on illustrations and serialization•

Edited by Andrew Sanders