MRS LIRRIPER

by Charles Dickens

Foreword by Philip Hensher

Recently widowed, Mrs Lirriper devotes her energies to attending to the needs of her assorted lodgers. But when a newborn child is abandoned to her care, her responsibilities extend to new levels, and she enlists a long-term lodger, the Major, into the role of joint guardian. The two develop a great affection for the child, and to keep him entertained they relate the stories of their fellow lodgers, little knowing that they are about to embark on their own real-life tale of impending death, guilty secrets and mysterious legacies.