" Facts. That's what is important to Thomas Gradgrind and Josiah Bounderby in this Victorian Satire. Gradgrind doesn't allow his children to wonder, or imagine, or partake in fairy stories. He doesn't allow it of any of his students, either. Sense and reason and fact are what are pounded into their heads. When Gradgrind's eldest daughter, Louisa, is offered marriage, the decision she makes isn't based on feeling, but fact. These three are not the only characters in this short novel. Louisa's beloved brother Tom has a bit of a gambling problem and gets himself into some trouble. Sissy is taken in by the Gradgrind family after she is abandoned by her father, a circus clown. Mrs. Sparsit is Mr. Bounderby's personal assistant, of sorts, a lady of aristocracy. Then there is Stephen, who has a forbidden love for Rachael, a love that can never be recognized or acted upon. These all seem to be separate characters with separate stories, but as the book progresses all stories and characters soon find themselves entertwined. A good and interesting read, though not one of Dickens's best. Some passages I was able to glaze over without missing anything important. "
— Monica, 1/31/2014