look at the typical dickens novel like bleak house or david copperfield or our mutual friend and the size be usually about 800 900 page . only three of his novel escape this gigantism . a tale of two city and great expectation be about 500 600 page each . but most surprising be hard time for these time ( good know a hard time ) which be about 350 to 400 page . at the time he write hard time ( 1854 55 ) dickens position a the lead british novelist be pretty secure . copperfield and bleak house have determine that . but he be try to demonstrate that he be also a great magazine editor . his first magazine be entitle household word and and while publish it he decide to enhance it readership by write a novel . like all of his novel it be publish piecemeal and but hitherto dickens be the author work with other editor so he be able to get them to accept his prolonged novel with ton of subplots and episode . now he be an editor himself and and he realize that he have to trim off the fat . the result be a four part serialize novel and regard the industrial revolution in the midland and and possibly ( to his million of fan ) the least dickens like novel of them all . the proof of this be that and despite it brief length be a plus for modern reader turn off by 800 900 page novel and more people know dickens for copperfield or pickwick or oliver twist than be aware of hard time . a point out in some of the other review here and dickens be take a close and skeptical view of the wonderful industrial revolution . his real hero in the novel be stephen blackpool and a hard work laborer in the industrial city of coketown . blackpool be overwork and underpaid . he have drunken shrew for a wife . he can not find any type of hope in this god forsake city . the so called labor union be of little use ( george orwell note in his essay on dickens that they be little good than a protection racket ) . in the course of the story we watch the tragedy of blackpool unfold and how it be impossible to stop it . the villain of the novel include thomas gradgrind and an educator and industrialist who be determine to raise a generation of realist . teach these child fact . nothing but fact . and he rail at the start of the novel and and doom his son and daughter ( among others ) into a bleak and colorless and joyless existence . he do get his daughter louisa marry to josiah bounderby ( the second villain ) and an ironmonger and self make man and who would not hear of coddle the worker ( the stephen blackpool and if you will ) of the world he keep use a ridiculous metaphor of the worker want to drink turtle soup out of silver tureen . louisa be soon bore by this man and and fall for the blandishment of mr. james harthouse and a member of parliament and the third villain in the novel . will she give in to the advance of this cad and or will she be save by her maid ( and friend ) sissy jupe . the b. b. c. series do pretty well in delineate dicken attack on inhuman education and inhuman economics and with a fine cast lead by timothy west a bounderby and edward fox a harthouse and jacqueline tong ( daisy on upstairs or downstairs ) a louisa and and rosalie crutchley a mrs. sparskit and bounderby housekeeper ( who be once an aristocrat her husband be a powler we be remind several time ) and who have a secret yen for josiah . i do have one regret and if you want to read the novel first do not go beyond this point below represent super spoiler come up represent in the novel and mrs. sparskit be jealous of louisa marry josiah and and when louisa have her affair with harthouse she spy on her . her intention be to eventually reveal all to bounderby and who will divorce louisa and ( hopefully ) marry mrs. sparskit . but while note louisa tryst with harthouse and mrs. sparskit also note a mysterious elderly woman who be constantly come to see josiah . after awhile and she be annoy at not know who this be and and bounderby reticence about the matter . finally and at the conclusion of the novel and she do meet the lady ( much to bounderby discomfort ) . it be his mother . now bounderby talk with a low class accent throughout the novel and and mrs. sparskit amorous interest in him be base on the idea that he low bear and wealthy and and she be poor but aristocratic they be mean for each other because she can raise him properly to his social sphere . now she find out that mrs. bounderby be not lowly at all josiah come from the upper class ( just a mrs. sparskit do ) . he just pretend he be self make for effect in deal with others . mrs. sparskit scorn for josiah at the conclusion of the novel be very funny . unfortunately it be not include in this version of the novel .