Our Mutual Friend

John Harmon returns to London from exile at his father's death, to claim his inheritance. But he finds he is eligible only if he marries Bella Wilfer, and in order to observe her character he assumes another identity and secures work with his father's foreman, Mr. Boffin, who is also Bella's guardian.

Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction.

"Our Mutual Friend made me want to be a writer."
--Zoe Heller, Guardian

"Dickens wasn't just telling a story, but drawing a panoramic picture of his times, full of detail about the way the Victorians lived, loved and thought. Our Mutual Friend is superbly constructed -- part social satire, part murder mystery, part love story. It is crowded with memorable characters: the aspirational Veneerings, the playboy lawyer Eugene Wrayburn, and the heroines: giddy-minded Bella Wilfur and saintly Lizzy Hexam."
--Independent

"Perhaps his greatest work. The great novel of London: dark, wise, unsentimental."
--William Boyd, Newsweek

"Our Mutual Friend made me want to be a writer" -- Zoe Heller Guardian "Dickens wasn't just telling a story, but drawing a panoramic picture of his times, full of detail about the way the Victorians lived, loved and thought. Our Mutual Friend is superbly constructed - part social satire, part murder mystery, part love story. It is crowded with memorable characters: the aspirational Veneerings, the playboy lawyer Eugene Wrayburn, and the heroines: giddy-minded Bella Wilfur and saintly Lizzy Hexam" Independent "Our Mutual Friend disturbs us to the root of our being...terribly great" -- John Sutherland "Perhaps his greatest work. The great novel of London: dark, wise, unsentimental" -- William Boyd Newsweek "Charles Dickens is the greatest novelist in the English language" -- Peter Ackroyd