Our Mutual Friend

The heir to a dust merchant's fortune, he goes to work under an assumed name for his father's current heirs, the amiable, elderly Boffins - who are about to be blackmailed by the unscrupulous one-legged Wegg. Opening with a father and daughter scavenging for corpses on the Thames, this chilling tale unfolds around drownings, disguises and doubles, violence, murder, and triumphant love. Read by Simon Vance This sinister masterpiece was Dickens's last completed novel and perhaps his ultimate vision of a dark, macabre London and the corrupting power of money. So begins the intrigue in a novel that is quintessentially Dickensian in flavor - in its grotesque caricatures, its rich symbolism, and in the astonishing realism of its heroine, Bella Wilfer, one of Dickens's most splendid female characters.. Young John Harmon, presumed killed on his return home to England, is very much alive

But in this final outing the author's heroes are more flawed, his villains more sympathetic, and the story as a whole more harrowing and less sentimental. --Alix Wilber. Venus, the avaricious Lammles, and self-centered Charlie Hexam. The mood is set in the opening scene in which a riverman, Gaffer Hexam, and his daughter Lizzie troll the Thames searching for drowned men whose pockets Gaffer will rifle before turning the body over to the authorities. Our Mutual Friend is one of Dickens's most satisfying novels, and a fitting denouement to his prolific career. The basic plot is vintage Dickens: an inheritance up for grabs, a murder, a rocky romance or two, plenty of skullduggery, and a host of unforgettable secondary characters. Boffin and his wife adopt young Bella, who is determined to marry money, and also hire a mysterious young secretary, John Rokesmith, w

This Story Has It All Adriana in Los Angeles The first half of this book was a bit of a tough slog, and were it not for the fact that I had it on excellent authority that I was in for a treat, I would have been tempted to give up. The pace picked up considerably at the start of section 3, though. This book has a little bit of everything to please an array of tastes. There are unsavory, disreputable characters (which Dickens did so well), the ridiculous and self-important who are worthy of nothing but contempt, and kind and honorable characters. There is mystery, murder, greed, romance, jealousy, betrayal, an. Abridged is not always best Loni Gee I love Dickens! And, I thoroughly enjoyed this audio edition of the book; the reader was fantastic with his many voices and his great inflections; he did a superb job.Having said that, however, I need to add that I wish I had listened to the unabridged version, even though it's much longer. Here's why: some of the characters are missing in this version. And, of course, some of the little plot twists are not covered. While I love listening to audio books (it makes exercising so much more tolerable!), I need to remember that where Dickens is concerned, it's best to . My favorite Dickens novel MissE This book is long, grim and a tougher read than even most of Dickens' other novels, but it is by far the best. While Dickens is known for his life-like quirky characters, you'll find plenty of well-developed and complex characters to root for and against in Our Mutual Friend. The writing and plot are also wonderful. It is a shame this book is eclipsed by lesser works such as Great Expectations and does not garner the attention it deserves.