Widely regarded as Dickens's masterpiece <I>Bleak House</I> centers on the generations-long lawsuit <I>Jarndyce and Jarndyce</I> through which 'whole families have inherited legendary hatreds.' Focusing on Esther Summerson a ward of John Jarndyce the novel traces Esther's romantic coming-of-age and in classic Dickensian style the gradual revelation of long-buried secrets all set against the foggy backdrop of the Court of Chancery. Mixing romance mystery comedy and satire <I>Bleak House</I> limits the suffering caused by the intricate inefficiency of the law.