Our Mutual Friend
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Summary |
Dickens’ last complete novel was published serially 1864-5. It begins with an intriguing fortune offered to John Harmon by his late father, a rich dust contractor, in his will. To receive the money, John must marry a certain Bella Wilfer who he does not know from Eve. He is returning from the exile enforced by his father and confides in a ship’s mate who attempts to murder him. The mate gets killed instead, leaving one inconvenient corpse. Because John is considered dead (the body is found with his papers), the money passes to Mr Boffin, old Harmon’s foreman. Harmon adopts Bella and John comes into his employ disguised as John Rokesmith. Bella does not fall for John but through kindly Boffin’s contrivances learns to hate money and fall for her suitor under his false name. Eventually she learns of his true identity as the Boffins had previously, and the villainous one-legged Silas Wegg’s plot to blackmail Mr Boffin is brought to light. Therre is also a story running behind the main plot about a certain Eugene Wrayburn and his love for Lizzie Hexam, and his rival’s attempt to murder him. The two plots are only really connected through the waterside murders but it allows Dickens to indulge in an extremely socially diverse cast of characters. The symbolism of the River Thames and the dust-heaps from which old Harmon made his fortune as emblems of time and money were not wasted on contemporary critics who otherwise saw the book as relatively contrived and ‘forced’ - though it is one of Dickens’ many novels that underwent something of a critical reappraisal in the twentieth century. |
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Table of contents |
On the Look Out
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The Man from Somewhere
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Another Man
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The R. Wilfer Family
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Boffins Bower
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Cut Adrift
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Mr Wegg Looks After Himself
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Mr Boffin in Consultation
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Mr and Mrs Boffin in Consultation
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A Marriage Contract
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Podsnappery
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The Sweat of an Honest Mans Brow
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Tracking the Bird of Prey
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The Bird of Prey Brought Down
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Two New Servants
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Minders and Re-Minders
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A Dismal Swamp
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Of an Educational Character
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Still Educational
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A Piece of Work
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Cupid Prompted
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Mercury Prompting
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A Riddle Without an Answer
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In which a Friendly Move is Originated
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In which an Innocent Elopement Occurs
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In which the Orphan Makes his Will
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A Successor
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Some Affairs Of The Heart
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More Birds of Prey
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A Solo and a Duett
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Strong of Purpose
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The Whole Case So Far
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An Anniversary Occasion
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Lodgers in Queer Street
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A Respected Friend in a New Aspect
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The Same Respected Friend in More Aspects Than One
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A Happy Return of the Day
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The Golden Dustman falls into Bad Company
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The Golden Dustman falls into Worse Company
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The Friendly Move takes up a Strong Position
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The End of a Long Journey
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Somebody becomes the Subject of a Prediction
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Scouts Out
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In The Dark
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Meaning Mischief
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Give a Dog a Bad Name, and Hang Him
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Mr Wegg Prepares a Grindstone for Mr Boffins Nose
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The Golden Dustman at his Worst
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The Feast of the Three Hobgoblins
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A Social Chorus
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Setting Traps
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The Golden Dustman Rises a Little
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The Golden Dustman Sinks Again
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A Runaway Match
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Concerning the Mendicants Bride
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A Cry for Help
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Better to be Abel than Cain
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A Few Grains Of Pepper
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Two Places Vacated
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The Dolls Dressmaker Discovers A Word
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Effect is Given to the Dolls Dressmakers Discovery
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The Passing Shadow.
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Showing how the Golden Dustman Helped to Scatter Dust
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Checkmate to the Friendly Move
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What was Caught in the Traps that were Set
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Persons and Things in General
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The Voice of Society
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In Lieu of Preface
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By PanEris
using Melati.
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