November 2012 Book of the Month.

Bleak Expectations began as a riotously funny Sony Award winning Radio 4 comedy but it was so amazing it has transformed itself into an equally splendid book. Featuring added jokes and lots of extra bits of story and additional dimensions to characters, it recounts the adventures of young Pip Bin as he tries to repair his destroyed family and distinctly damaged life, aided by his best friend Harry Biscuit and definitely not aided by his cruel and ironically named guardian Mr Gently Benevolent and his accomplices, the fearsome Hardthrasher siblings. Add in grim circumstances, mistaken identities, unlikely inheritances, nightmarish court cases, ridiculous names, convenient coincidences to resolve plot problems, over-sentimental death scenes and lots and lots of adjectives: Bleak Expectations is the novel Charles Dickens might have written after drinking far too much gin.

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Dartmoor.co.uk has teamed up with Lovereading to offer one lucky winner the chance to win a prize package of accommodation for 2 at Lurcombe luxury apartments during the Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey on June 7–9th, including day tickets to attend the festival itself plus Dinner for two (including a bottle of wine) in one of our leading gastro pubs the Rock Inn and a delicious lunch for two at Home Farm Café set in the scenic grounds of the National Trust Estate at Parke in Bovey Tracey.

Please note that this draw is open only for UK residents and is free to enter. Draw closes on 27 May 2013. The winner will be chosen randomly from all entrants.The winners will be notified by 1 June 2013. The decision of the judges is final. By providing us with your contact details when you enter the competition you are agreeing to future contact from Dartmoor.co.uk and it's selected partners.

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Synopsis

Weep! As Pip is sent to Britain's nastiest boarding school, St Bastard's. Gasp! As the true extent of his despicable guardian's plan becomes clear. Worry! As our hero is committed to the Workhouse, where he meets the hideous poverty-punishments of the treadmill, the grindstone and the painwheel. Sigh! As Pip finds love with London's most eligible frail beauty, Miss Flora Dies-Early. Find a tenterhook and sit on it!

Reviews

'The funniest book since the one i haven't written yet.  Mark Evans sets the bar annoyingly high'  Robert Webb

Praise for the Radio 4 series:

'Mark Evans writes one of the wittiest, most ingenious scripts on the air, a Dickensian pastiche with a slight Rocky Horror Show echo.' (Daily Telegraph)

'A freshly minted comedy classic.' (The Guardian)

'Lightly punned and briskly acted, with some excellent sound effects, Bleak Expectations is expert stuff, in the manner of Blackadder.' (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer)

'...inspired lunacy.' (The Times)

About the Author

Mark Evans has written really quite often for television and radio, including five series of Radio 4's Bleak Expectations, BBC2's The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff and That Mitchell and Webb Look. He is also the author of this book, the one you're holding or looking at now. He lives in North London with one wife, no dog and enough children, thank you, and can be bribed quite easily to do most things involving words. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation