Having read a few of Dickens' novels now I thought it about time to tackle Bleak House. It's a big undertaking due to both its size in length, number of characters, and connected plots, but well worth the effort. 

As always with Dickens the writing is superb, always finding unique ways to describe characters. For example, even though the following is not really a description of a character it gives us an impression of them so clearly and humorously that is quintessential Dickens “because she considers that a family of such antiquity and importance has a right to a ghost. She regards a ghost as one of the privileges of the upper classes: a genteel distinction to which common people have no claim.” 

There’re several plots in this book, all linked via the characters and all are well told. A murder mystery as good as any, a romance novel as good as any Georgette Heyer novel, and legal story of despair and comedy that’s spawned many copycats. 

Characters are varied and great, though I have a couple of criticisms for those characters which are at the extremes of the spectrum of morality as they tend to be a bit flat, having no bad or good points respectively. There're also the drops of antisemitism one expects from Dickens but significantly less than in Oliver Twist. Women do tend to play a better role in this than his other works though, with more individuality, and the main character / narrator being a woman is a nice change.