Great Expectations is Charles Dickens's beloved, autobiographical tale of a poor boy haunted by a dark secret and harboring grand hopes for his future as a gentleman. When young Pip accidentally meets a convict out in the marsh one Christmas Eve, he has no idea that his life is about to change forever. The amazing events following that encounter, and the strange tale of Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella, have made Great Expectations a must-read since it was first serialized in 1860.