I had no idea what I was getting when I began to read Mark Evans's nook based on the first season of the BBC Radio 2 series of 'Bleak Expectations.' I hadn't ever heard of it before and was intrigued by the book's synopsis.

I mean how you could you not be intrigued by a book that is described as being a story Dickens would write if he had drunk too much Gin?

The story is hilarious, following the many events of Sir Philip Bin (or Pip as he is called by those closest to him) throughout his childhood - from 11 to 18. I honestly don't think there was a single page that didn't turn without me giggling or barely holding in a full laughter attack.

Evans has written the book as if it were written by Sir Bin, and he merely leaving annotations at the bottom to aid the reader and it is brilliantly done. The characters are all larger than life with some of the most incredibly thought out names that too induce moments of laughter - for example Sir Philip's nemesis and guardian is Mr Gently Benevolent. The man is every Dickensian evil-doer rolled into one with a name that would make you think were akin to Father Christmas for his kindness.

Benevolent's attempts to destroy Pip and his two sisters, Pippa and Poppy are many and grow more absurd as the chapters go by from a boarding school where you aren't fed but are forced to act out eating the best meal of your life, to a sword fight in a church where Benevolent had planned years before structural changes to ensure Bin falls over a lot.

I read Bleak Expectations in a day, and having found out it's origin, found myself hearing the actors say the words. This added greatly to my amusement as I could hear Anthony Stewart Head laughing as Benevolent whose Ha Ha Ha is pantomime baddy-esque and perfection in its utterance throughout the book.

Bleak Expectations is a book for anyone who loves the humour of such authors as Gaiman and Pratchett. You will be left aching from laughing and then hunting down the five series' of the dramatisation. I'm so glad my hubby bought me this.