Our Mutual Friend
Charles Dickens
The miser is dead, and his sole heir’s corpse is fished from the Thames. No, it’s not the premise of a Masterpiece murder mystery. This setup launches Charles Dickens’ last novel, “Our Mutual Friend,” a sprawling tome crisscrossed with numerous and overlapping plot lines, all following the fortunes and misfortunes of classically Dickensian characters whose lives are abruptly altered by a twist of fiscal fate.
I wouldn’t call this top-shelf Dickens; but he does shine when his trademark wit is unsheathed, such as when sketching the mercenary marriage of a young society couple who married each other for money only to find out neither had any. He stumbles where he always stumbles: when he goes for pathos and the heavenly virtues of the ethereal Perfect Woman. I don’t know if his brand of saccharine sweetness worked in Victorian England, but it comes across as cringy today. But, that’s par for the course with Dickens; and you push through because you know some insufferable puffed-up ninny is about to get a delicious comeuppance. All in all, this novel is a strong and enjoyable read, perhaps not among his best works, but an average Dickens is always better than most anyone else.
Authors: Charles Dickens, Richard T. Gaughan (Introduction)
Genres: Fiction, Literature, Social Realism