Readers Digest Hard Cover Edition PUBLISHED 1991 with illustrations-  "Great Expectations" is a novel by Charles Dickens that follows the life of an orphan named Pip as he navigates social class, ambition, and personal growth in 19th-century England. "Great Expectations" is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published serially from 1860 to 1861 and later in book form in 1861