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.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Win a Copy of The Sisters of Hope Square by Faith Hogan and a Bucket List Scratch Book
Closing date: 04/07/2026
The story Charles Dickens might have written after drinking too much gin…
Follow half-orphan Pip's extraordinary exploits with sisters Pippa and Poppy and best friend Harry Biscuit, as they attempt to escape the calculating clutches of the dastardly Mr Gently Benevolent, defeat the hideous Hardthrasher siblings, and deflect disaster at every turn! Will evil be vanquished by virtue? Can love triumph over hate?
Mark Evans' stage play Bleak Expectations is a hilarious, chaotic caper, featuring dastardly villains, preposterous names, pulse-quickening romances, heart-rending death scenes, and definitely, probably, hopefully a happy ending.
Based on the award-winning BBC Radio 4 series, the play opened at The Watermill Theatre, Newbury, in 2022, directed by Caroline Leslie. It transferred to the Criterion Theatre in London's West End in 2023, where it featured a medley of many well-known actors and comedians.
It offers rich opportunities to amateur theatre companies looking for a gloriously daft Dickensian romp which will have their audiences joyfully transported and begging for more.
Bleak Expectations features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Humour, Books of the Month, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Recommendations, Romance / Relationship Stories
Bleak Expectations is available in Paperback, Hardback, CD-Audio
Bleak Expectations was written by Mark Evans and published by Nick Hern Books
Bleak Expectations has 96 pages
Yes it is part of NHB Modern Plays series
£10.79
