Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens that chronicles the development of the orphan Pip into an adult. Pip, who is financially supported by an enigmatic unknown donor, moves to London to pursue a gentlemanly education and to improve his chances of winning Estella, the ward of the reclusive Miss Havisham. However, Pip discovers that life in London is riskier and more unpredictable than he could have anticipated, and his future possibilities end up being considerably different from what his high aspirations had foretold.