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4.02 AVERAGE

challenging mysterious slow-paced

Our Mutual Friend is a fascinating story about the nature of greed and the enticement of wealth.

Following the fashion in which Dickens is so very famous for, Our Mutual Friend has a slew of characters: there's the romantic hero, who is snubbed by the beauty because he is only a poor secretary; there's a cynical lawyer who pursues a truly good and beautiful woman, though she is below his station in society; there's the motherly character, the naive, and the scheming. And the villains! They abound in this novel: the one-legged con man; a terrible ursurer; a desperate waterside character; and a psychotic schoolmaster.

Our Mutual Friend follows mainly the storyline of Mr. Boffin, also known as, 'The Golden Dustman.' Mr. Boffin was a servant who was left his former master's entire estate when the former master's son is found drowned. Now, that former master's son, John Harmon, would have only inherited the riches on the condition that he marry Miss Bella Wilfer. Bella, now a sort of widow without ever have been married, is taken in by the Boffins so that they may share the riches that would've become partly hers. Bella, who had grown up very poor, is suddenly changed by the wealth; she becomes horrible and prideful, yet in spite of this, she begins to notice a change in Mr. Boffin as well. Mr. Boffin has gone from kind and genial to something entirely different as greed and arrogance take over him as well.

In the middle of all of this is Mr. John Rokesmith, employed by the Boffins as a secretary and lodged at the Wilfer's. Rokesmith is an unknown man, new to the area, no friends or family to speak of, and sort of an enigma - one wonders what his place is in all of this.

And all of these characters, with a few more thrown in, equals a typical Dickens novel that's just fascinating to read.

The plotting of the characters is the best thing about this novel. I mean, it's just remarkable. The actions of a couple of the villains were horrific, truly more horrible than any other villian in any other Dickens work that I'm familiar with
Spoilersee Bradley Headstone
. And though there are many characters, and the scope and breadth of the novel is just, huge, there are still surprises and delights as the story moves on in it's roundabout fashion, giving away its secrets and proving to be a very enjoyable read indeed.

The last finished work of Charles Dickens, he again uses his storytelling to expound upon the usual things: the treatment of the poor, the need for education, the ridiculous inheritance laws, the representative government, but mostly how wealth can change a person and money's power to corrupt.

This is one of my favorite Dickens. There's something about it that makes it stand out from the other works while at the same time it remains so much like them.


For Evil often stops short at itself and dies with the doer of it; but Good, never. (p.105)

A reread with the Dickens Fellowship of New Orleans: At one of our meetings a speaker said this was not only Dickens’s most cynical work, but also a fairy-tale. For some reason, that helped one of the members who'd been struggling greatly with the novel.

I struggled with a way to review this complicated novel, as any way I thought of would contain spoilers, especially my thoughts on why Lizzie Hexam is a character that has ‘legs.’

So, I will only say:

When I first read this however many years ago, I had sympathy for Bradley Headstone; this time I had none.

I was supremely aggravated at Bella’s reaction when she’s finally told the truth. I’m pretty sure I felt the same way the first time I read it.

If you thought Dickens skewered Society in his other novels, 'you ain't seen nothing yet.'

Jenny Wren remains my favorite character: "Don't be long gone. Come back, and be dead!"

I liked this book a lot, more than Little Dorrit. I felt like even though Lizzie was in the same vein as Amy Dorrit, she had a bit more autonomy and did more things for herself. I didn't like Eugene Wrayburn, though, I thought he was even more undeserving of Lizzie than Arthur Clennam was of Amy Dorrit.

I appreciated the mystery element, and I found the depiction of Bradley Headstone to be eerily familiar and well written.
adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is my third time reading Our Mutual Friend and it’s still one of my favorites. I read Dickens for the characters and this one has some of my favorites. Crazy Master Headstone, dishonest Roger Riderhood who earns “honest” pay by the sweat of his brow, heroic John Rokesmith who yet harbors a secret, and sardonic Eugene Wrayburn with the secret heart of gold to name just a few. The women aren’t just character pieces either. Sweet as Lizzie Hexam is she is no push over, strong enough to stand on her convictions. And Bella Wilfer who starts out as a mercenary little thing and grows into a woman of character, even she has a backbone from the beginning. And I just love Jenny Wren with her sharp eye and even sharper mind, who sees things others don’t. I won’t say in 800 pages there wasn’t a dull moment but the characters were so engaging to me that I make it past those dull moments. 
mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sharonb's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 36%

I have read this before and gave it 5 stars but this read I am bored. Some of the writing is repetetive. I was skipping loads when the lammle's, Veneerings and Podsnapps were on the page as I hated them and though I get why Dickens included them I hated reading about them.