Originally a series novel published between 1855 and 1857, Little Dorrit, set in London, chronicles the lives of the Dorrits, an entire family imprisoned in the Marshalsea, a debtors' prison. The novel focuses primarily on William Dorrit and his youngest daughter Amy. When businessman Arthur Clennam comes into their lives, he helps them struggle out of poverty and into an affluent lifestyle. Dickens vividly critiques societal and governmental systems in this satirical work.
