Other editions of book Our Mutual Friend

Our Mutual Friend is the finished work by English writer Charles Dickens. It was published between 1864-1865. This book is the first part of Dickens' Our Mutual Friend tells us about dark and macabre London, inhabited by such characters as enchanting, mercenary Bella Wilfer; Gaffer Hexam, scavenging the river for corpses; the unscrupulous street-trader Silas Weggthe and the social climbing Veneerings. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens is symbolic in its vision of renewal and death in a city, where dominated by the fetid Thames, and the corrupting power of money.

One of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.Dickens exposes the corrupting power of money in his last complete novel, Our Mutual Friend, with its expansive cast of characters and interweaving plots.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition has an afterword by Lucinda Dickens Hawksley and original illustrations by Marcus Stone.John Harmon made his fortune collecting ‘dust’. On his death his estranged son is due to inherit his wealth on the condition that he marry Bella Wilfer, a young woman who he has never even met. But when his son is presumed dead, John’s riches pass to his servants Mr. and Mrs. Boffin and they in turn take Bella into their own home. They hire a secretive young man, John Rokesmith, to be Mr. Boffin’s secretary – but what is this man’s real identity and what is his interest in Bella?

Charles Dickens's last completed novel tells the story of a young man who must marry a stranger in order to win his inheritance. Wanting to learn the lady's nature, John Harmon fakes his own death and takes on a new identity. As the complexities of the deceit are revealed, Dickens gives us his most profoundly cynical, yet brilliantly funny, insight into the corruption of wealth on human nature. 40 illustrations.

Our Mutual Friend, written in the years 1864–65, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life."Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens' skill as a writer in general, though not reviewing this novel in detail. Some found the plot too complex, and not well laid out. The Times of London found the first few chapters did not draw the reader into the characters. However, in the 20th century reviewers have found much to approve in the later novels of Dickens, including Our Mutual Friend. In the late 20th and early 21st century, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was experimenting with structure, and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers were true representations of the Victorian working class and key to understanding the structure of the society depicted by Dickens in this novel.

Our Mutual Friend by Charles DickensHow is this book unique? Illustrations IncludedOur Mutual Friend centres on an inheritance - Old Harmon's profitable dust heaps - and its legatees, young John Harmon, presumed drowned when a body is pulled out of the River Thames, and kindly dustman Mr Boffin, to whom the fortune defaults. With brilliant satire, Dickens portrays a dark, macabre London, inhabited by such disparate characters as Gaffer Hexam, scavenging the river for corpses; enchanting, mercenary Bella Wilfer; the social-climbing Veneerings; and the unscrupulous street-trader Silas Wegg. The novel is richly symbolic in its vision of death and renewal in a city dominated by the fetid Thames, and the corrupting power of money. Our Mutual Friend uses text of the first volume edition of 1865 and includes original illustrations, a chronology and revised further reading. As Adrian Poole writes in his introduction to this new edition, 'In its vast scope and perilous ambitions it has much in common with Bleak House and Little Dorrit, but its manner is more stealthy, on edge, enigmatic.'

A story about money and avidity"And O there are days in this life, worth life and worth death."-Charles Dickens, Our Mutual FriendJohn Harmon, a young man recently returned to London as his father's heir, fakes his own death to hide his true identity, until he can get to properly know Bella Wilfer, the woman whom he must marry to secure his inheritance. The story is filled with motley characters and incidents and centers on the effects of corruption and greed that money brings.,This book has been professionally formatted for e-readers and contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it. For more great book club picks, check out : http://amzn.to/1A7cKKl Find all our our books for Kindle here: http://amzn.to/1PooxLl Sign up for the Xist Publishing Newsletter here.

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens – a timeless literary masterpiece of the pre-Victorian era – has captivated millions of hearts and minds of readers for a century and a half all over the world. This unique edition includes dedicated author’s biography, novel synopsis, historical context, little knows facts and contemporary critique. This edition is also carefully formatted for comfortable reading.The story begins with finding of the body of a young man, John Harmon, who was to inherit an estate from his father. Mr Harmon’s estate was to pass to his son John only on condition that he marries Miss Bella Wilfer. Due to heir’s, young Mr Harmon’s, death, the money was distributed to the Boffin family, a working class people, who were faithful employees of Mr Harmon. Mr and Mrs Boffin accept Bella to their household. Mr Boffin also hires John Rockesmith as a secretary. There are many more characters crucial to the plot, there is love, money and poverty, as well as many twists and turns, therefore the novel is a very interesting reading that keeps the reader engaged, but no more can be revealed here not to spoil the readers’ joy of reading the novel themselves.‘Our Mutual Friend’ was first published in instalments between years 1864-1865.Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and died in 1870. He left a legacy of magnificent novels that are still very popular with readers.

How is this book unique? Formatted for E-Readers, Unabridged & Original version. You will find it much more comfortable to read on your device/app. Easy on your eyes.Includes: 15 Colored Illustrations and BiographyOur Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life", but is also about human values. In the opening chapters a body is found in the Thames and identified as that of John Harmon, a young man recently returned to London to receive his inheritance. Were he alive, his father's will would require him to marry Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he had never met. Instead, the money passes to the working-class Boffins, and the effects spread into various corners of London society.Having made his fortune from London's rubbish, a rich misanthropic miser dies – estranged from all except his faithful employees Mr and Mrs Boffin. By his will, his fortune goes to his estranged son John Harmon, who is to return from where he has settled abroad (putatively in South Africa, though this is never stated specifically) to claim it, on condition that he marries a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer. The implementation of the Will is in the charge of the solicitor, Mortimer Lightwood, who has no other practice.Before the son and heir can claim his inheritance, he goes missing, presumed drowned, at the end of his journey back to London. A body is found in the Thames by Gaffer Hexam, a waterman who makes his living by retrieving corpses and robbing them of valuables before rendering them to the authorities. Papers in the pockets of the drowned man identify him as the heir, John Harmon. Present at the identification is a mysterious young man, who gives his name as Julius Handford and then disappears.By the terms of the miser's will, the whole estate then devolves upon Mr and Mrs Boffin, naïve and good-hearted people who wish to enjoy it for themselves and to share it with others. They take the disappointed bride of the drowned heir, Miss Wilfer, into their household, and treat her as their pampered child and heiress. They also accept an offer from Julius Handford, now going under the name of John Rokesmith, to serve as their confidential secretary and man of business, at no salary. Rokesmith uses this position to watch and learn everything about the Boffins, Miss Wilfer, and the aftershock of the drowning of the heir John Harmon. Mr Boffin engages a one-legged ballad-seller, Silas Wegg, to read aloud to him in the evenings, and Wegg tries to take advantage of his position and of Mr Boffin's good heart to obtain other advantages from the wealthy dustman. Having persuaded Mr Boffin to move to a larger house, he himself takes possession of their former home, in the yard of which stand several mounds of "dust" remaining from Mr Harmon's business; Wegg hopes to find hidden treasure there.Gaffer Hexam, who found the body, is accused of murdering John Harmon by a fellow-waterman, Roger "Rogue" Riderhood, who is bitter at having been cast off as Hexam's partner on the river and who covets the large reward offered in relation to the murder. As a result of the accusation, Hexam is shunned by his fellows on the river, and excluded from The Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters, the public house they frequent. Hexam's young son, the clever but priggish Charley Hexam, leaves his father's house to better himself at school, and to train to be a schoolmaster, encouraged by his sister, the beautiful Lizzie Hexam. Meanwhile, Lizzie stays with her father, to whom she is devoted.

"Of all the Dickens I’ve read … Our Mutual Friend remains my favorite." — Jane Smiley.A young man returns from abroad to claim his inheritance — but he never arrives and is presumed to have drowned in the Thames. Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, a warmhearted, working-class couple, are the next heirs in line, and their generosity is tested when their windfall opens the door to a vast gallery of scoundrels, strivers, and social climbers.Charles Dickens's genius for observing and characterizing people from every walk of life sparkles in this, his final complete novel. The great storyteller's cast of extraordinary personalities ranges from grasping Mr. Podsnap and greedy Silas Wegg to selfless Lizzie Hexam, insanely jealous Bradley Headstone, and spoiled Bella Wilfer, whose initial disappointment paves the way for a change of heart. Blending elements of mystery, horror, romance, and farce, Dickens paints a brooding portrait of the minds and motives of desperate people as well as a delightful satire of middle-class snobbery.

The last novel to be completed by one of the masters of Victorian-era fictionLike his novels A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend stands as a landmark of English literature. John Harmon returns from England expecting to receive an inheritance, though he knows that he must marry a stranger in order to collect it. Deciding that it would be best to discreetly observe the woman he has been constrained to marry, he fakes his own death in the Thames and takes on a new identity.Some of the memorable characters in this timeless novel include Bella who, unlike other Dickens heroines, cannot be accused of unnatural virtue; the insolent barrister Eugene Wrayburn; the amiable Boffin; and the rascal Silas Wegg.This novel is part of Brilliance Audio's extensive Classic Collection, bringing you timeless masterpieces that you and your family are sure to love.