Dombey and Son (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Originally published in installments, Dickens’s Dombey and Son presents a cavalcade of life in mid-nineteenth-century Britain, tracing the fortunes and eventual downfall of a powerful London shipping firm and its proud owner, Paul Dombey. The immense cast of inimitable Dickens characters includes Dombey’s children, his employees, and various legitimate and illegitimate relations.