Dombey and Son

To Paul Dombey, business is everything. He runs his domestic affairs as he runs his firm: coldly, calculatingly and commercially, neglecting 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'.
Paul Dombey is a heartless London merchant who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business. In the tight orbit of his daily life there is no room for dealing with emotions because emotion has no market value. In his son he sees the future of his firm and the continuation of his name, while he neglects his affectionate daughter, until he decides to get rid of her beloved, a lowly clerk. But Dombey's weakness is his pride, and he falls prey to the treacherous flattery of others. Combining an intricate plot, vivid language, andDickens's customary social commentary, Dombey and Son, explores the possibility of moral and emotional redemption through familial love.
Charles Dickens's 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 by 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 by 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's own childhood. This edition also includes a chronology, further reading, appendices, notes and the original illustrations by '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