Tab Article

ratings: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Genre: Classic Literature / Victorian Novel / Social Satire

Book Review:
''Our Mutual Friend'' is Dickens' last completed novel, and it's a masterpiece. It's a dark, complex, and deeply satisfying book that takes a hard look at Victorian society and finds it corrupted by money. The story revolves around a fortune inherited from a dust-heap (literally, a massive pile of garbage), and the novel explores how that money poisons and motivates everyone it touches. The plot is wonderfully intricate, full of disguises, deceptions, and surprises. The characters are some of Dickens' best: the greedy villain Silas Wegg, the charming and lazy Eugene Wrayburn, the golden-hearted Lizzie Hexam, and the delightful father-daughter duo, the Wilfers. It's also one of Dickens' funniest and darkest novels, with a satirical edge that cuts deep. The famous opening scene, with Gaffer Hexam fishing a body out of the Thames, sets the tone for a book that is constantly dealing with themes of death, rebirth, and the value we place on things. A true masterpiece and a fitting end to a brilliant career.