Which Charles Dickens novel follows an orphan named Pip and his mysterious benefactor?

The Charles Dickens novel that follows the orphan Pip and his mysterious benefactor is Great Expectations. First published in serialized form from 1860 to 1861, it traces Philip Pirrip—known as Pip—from childhood in the Kent marshes to an attempted transformation into a London gentleman.

Pip initially believes that Miss Havisham, the wealthy and eccentric woman whose adopted daughter Estella he visits, is secretly financing his new life. The real benefactor is Abel Magwitch, an escaped convict Pip once helped as a frightened child. Magwitch later becomes wealthy in Australia and uses his fortune to support Pip, hoping to repay the boy’s kindness.

The revelation forces Pip to confront his assumptions about social class, respectability, and personal worth. The novel also includes Joe Gargery, Pip’s kind blacksmith brother-in-law, and Estella, whose proud treatment intensifies Pip’s shame about his humble origins. A common mix-up is assuming Miss Havisham is Pip’s patron; Dickens deliberately makes that mistaken belief central to the plot.