A notorious murderer in Marseilles tells his cell mate of how he killed his wife. Arthur Clennam is traveling back to London having been given a watch by his father on his death in China and was bringing it to his mother, who refuses to have anything to do with it. In the meantime, William Dorrit languishes in a debt prison for a very long time. However, he is comforted by the devotion of his youngest daughter, Amy, the 'little Dorrit' who was actually born in the prison and whose sewing supports them. She works for Arthur Clennam's presumed mother.

Charles Dickens was born in Kent, England, in 1812 and died in 1870. Although initially criticised for the complexities of the plot and it being somewhat dour in tone, it soon became hailed as a masterpiece of fiction.