With an Introduction and
Notes by Karl Ashley Smith, University of St Andrews
Mr Dombey is a man obsessed with his firm. His son is groomed from
birth to take his place within it, despite his visionary eccentricity
and declining health. But Dombey also has a daughter, whose unfailing
love for her father goes unreturned. 'Girls' said Mr Dombey, 'have
nothing to do with Dombey and Son'. When Walter Gay, a young clerk
in her father's office, rescues her from a bewildering experience in
the streets of London, his unforgettable friends believe he is well
on his way to receiving her hand in marriage and inheriting the company.
It is to be a very different type of story.