Our Mutual Friend

Our Mutual Friend was Charles Dickens' last completed novel, published 150 years ago in 1864. It is certainly not on the level of his more famous works, such as Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, or David Copperfield--for one thing there isn't one central character--but it maintains his over-riding theme of the evil of money, as this novel is basically about two things: the River Thames, and England's strict monetary classes.

This was not an easy book to read. It has more plot threads than I would consider prudent, and in the early going it seemed like every chapter introduced a new set of characters. I found it intermittently interesting, and at times stultifying. I'm sure this is because some of it was lost on me, living in a different time and place.

This is what I know: the novel's key incident is the discovery of a body floating in the Thames. It is thought to be John Harmon, who was on his way back to London to inherit his father's estate. Presumed drowned, Harmon's estate instead goes to the "Golden Dustman," Noddy Boffin. The conditions of Harmon's father's will was that he must marry a woman he had never met, Bella Wilfer, who only wants to marry for money.

Another plot line is that of the competition for Jenny Hexam. She is the daughter of the man who fished Harmon's body out of the water (a thriving trade back then--they were called gaffers, and pulled bodies out of the drink after relieving them of their valuables). She is in love with a diffident lawyer, Eugene Wrayburn. Her brother tries to fix her up with his school headmaster, Bradley Headstone, but when she turns him down both of them go apeshit.

One other minor subplot turns the idea of marrying for money on itself. The Lammles are a married couple who each had nothing, but married each other because each believed the other to be rich. When they find out the truth, they team up as confidence artists.

There are more subplots, including an attempt by a wooden-legged man to blackmail Mr. Boffin, the nouveau riche Veneerings, and the kindly Jew Riah, who takes in Jenny when she flees from the two men vying for her. Riah is depicted as being such a good man that it is thought that Dickens was bending over backwards to atone for his anti-Semitic portrayal of Fagin in Oliver Twist.

Our Mutual Friend could have stood for trimming, perhaps by as much as a half. It is overkill to have so many plot threads and characters. But occasionally his genius bursts forth, such was when Boffin throws out his secretary for daring to be sweet on Bella, or the grim ending for Bradley Headstone. As usual, his descriptions are breathtaking, usually coming at the beginnings of chapters. My favorite is this one:

"It was a Saturday evening, and at such a time the village dogs, always much more interested in the doings of humanity than in the affairs of their own species, were particularly active. At the general shop, at the butcher's and at the public-house, they evinced an inquiring spirit never to be satiated. Their especial interest in the public-house would seem to imply some latent rakishness in the canine character; for little was eaten there, and they, having no taste for beer or tobacco (Mrs Hubbard's dog is said to have smoked, but proof is wanting), could only have been attracted by sympathy with loose convivial habits."

And then there are the names. In addition to the morbidly named Headstone, we get characters with such names as Twemlow, Georgina Podsnap, Fascination Fledgely, and Rogue Riderhood and his daughter Pleasant.

I can only give this book three out of five stars, which seems odd since it's by Dickens, but it wasn't as perfectly structured or gripping as some of his other books, and is really only for those who have read all of his masterworks.