Other editions of book Our Mutual Friend

Our Mutual Friend is Charles Dickens’s last completed novel, first published in 1864–65. Considered one of his most sophisticated works, Our Mutual Friend centers on, quoting from the character Bella Wilfer in the book, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life." In the opening chapter of Our Mutual Friend, a young man is on his way to receive his inheritance, which, according to his father's will, he can only claim if he marries Bella Wilfer, a beautiful, mercenary girl whom he has never met. However, before he can arrive, a body is found in the Thames and identified as him. The money passes on, instead, to the Boffins, and the effects spread throughout various corners of London society. Our Mutual Friend is largely believed to be the most challenging and complicated novel that Dickens produced, combining savage satire with social analysis. Although at the time of publication reviews were not generally favorable, critical opinion shifted in the century that followed, and it is now considered a true master piece.

Known as one of Charles Dickens’ most sophisticated works, "Our Mutual Friend" is a satirical, yet complex novel about the desires and failings that revolve around money. Though praised by literary critics in the 1860s as Dickens’ best novel, it was not until the early 21st century that it was recognized as a true, albeit contemporary, look at the Victorian class society. Dickens is celebrated for his social criticisms, credited as a literary genius of the Victorian era.John Harmon, an estranged son heir to a London fortune, is found murdered in a river outside the city. The inheritance he was promised now falls into the hands of two naïve servants, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin. The Boffins take in John Harmon’s wife-to-be, Bella Wilfer, treating her as the new heiress of the estate as though she were their daughter. At the same time, they hire a lad named John Rokesmith as Mr. Boffin’s secretary, who is dead set on learning more about the murder of John Harmon. "Our Mutual Friend" is a thriller, a romance, and a mystery all in one novel.Composed of four different books that Dickens wrote over a year, "Our Mutual Friend" not only captures its readers with its riveting storyline and unsuspecting twists, but with its sharp, savage wit. As Dickens’ last complete novel, "Our Mutual Friend" is a captivating read you don’t want to miss out on.

This sinister masterpiece was Dickens' last completed novel and perhaps his ultimate vision of a dark, macabre London and the corrupting power of money. 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. Young John Harmon, presumed killed on his return home to England, is very much alive. 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. 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' most splendid female characters.

Why buy our paperbacks? Printed in USA on High Quality Paper Standard Font size of 10 for all books Fulfilled by Amazon Expedited shipping 30 Days Money Back Guarantee Unabridged (100% Original content) BEWARE OF LOW-QUALITY SELLERS Don't buy cheap paperbacks just to save a few dollars. Most of them use low-quality papers & binding. Their pages fall off easily. Some of them even use very small font size of 6 or less to increase their profit margin. It makes their books completely unreadable. About Our Mutual Friend By Charles Dickens Our 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.'

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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 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.