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A review by victoriad702
The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
4.0
I loved this book. Would be a solid 4.5. Now, I do love Matthew Pearl. I thoroughly enjoyed The Dante Club, thought The Poe Shadow-while not as good-was still solid, but I think my enjoyment of The Last Dickens eclipses them all.
The Last Dickens is about the search for the final sections of Dickens' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, when Dickens dies while writing it. He manages to get half way through (6 of the 12 installments)but his US publishers feel they can investigate and figure out what the ending was supposed to be and save themselves from sure ruin. The novel takes James Osgood and his bookkeeper Rebbecca from Boston to London in their search for clues to the ending. Along their way they meet mysterious and interesting people and get in way over their heads.
The novel also has sections of Dickens' second trip to America for a book reading tour which are also quite enjoyable. The only part of the novel I disliked was the side story of Francis Dickens, Charles' son in India. It seemed superfluous to me and just thrown in for the sake of being thrown in. It wasn't really developed and constituted only a few sections. But on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
The Last Dickens is about the search for the final sections of Dickens' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, when Dickens dies while writing it. He manages to get half way through (6 of the 12 installments)but his US publishers feel they can investigate and figure out what the ending was supposed to be and save themselves from sure ruin. The novel takes James Osgood and his bookkeeper Rebbecca from Boston to London in their search for clues to the ending. Along their way they meet mysterious and interesting people and get in way over their heads.
The novel also has sections of Dickens' second trip to America for a book reading tour which are also quite enjoyable. The only part of the novel I disliked was the side story of Francis Dickens, Charles' son in India. It seemed superfluous to me and just thrown in for the sake of being thrown in. It wasn't really developed and constituted only a few sections. But on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!