''The Last Dickens'' is a novel by

Matthew Pearl Matthew Pearl (born October 2, 1975) is an American novelist and educator. His novels include ''The Dante Club'', '' The Poe Shadow'', '' The Last Dickens'', '' The Technologists'', and '' The Last Bookaneer''. Biography Pearl was born in New Yor ...

published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. It is a work of historical and literary fiction. The novel is a

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

Critics' Pick. It contains some characters from ''

The Dante Club ''The Dante Club'' is a mystery novel by Matthew Pearl and his debut work, set amidst a series of murders in the American Civil War era. It also concerns a club of poets, including such historical figures as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wen ...

''.

Plot summary

The novel is set in the United States, England, and India in 1867 and 1870.Mundow, Anna. "A Tale of Three Continents, Winningly Traversed." ''Washington Post''. April 4, 2009
/ref> When news of

Charles Dickens 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 by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

’s untimely death reaches the office of his struggling American publisher, Fields & Osgood, partner

James R. Osgood James Ripley Osgood (1836–1892) was an American publisher in Boston. He was involved with the publishing company that became Houghton Mifflin. Life and work James Ripley Osgood was born in Fryeburg, Maine, on February 22, 1836. A reputed child ...

sends his trusted clerk Daniel Sand to await Dickens's unfinished last novel – ''

The Mystery of Edwin Drood ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium ...

''. But when Daniel's body is discovered by the docks and the manuscript is nowhere to be found, Osgood must embark on a transatlantic quest to unearth the novel that will save his venerable business and reveal Daniel's killer. Danger and intrigue abound on the journey, for which Osgood has chosen Rebecca Sand, Daniel's older sister, to help clear her brother's name and achieve their singular mission. As they attempt to uncover Dickens's final mystery, Osgood and Rebecca find themselves racing the clock through a dangerous web of literary lions and drug dealers, sadistic thugs and blue bloods, and competing members of the inner circle. They soon realize that understanding Dickens's lost ending is a matter of life and death, and the hidden key to stopping a murderous mastermind. The novel also includes interspersed sections about

's 1867 reading tour of the United States and

Francis Dickens Francis Jeffrey Dickens (15 January 1844 – 11 June 1886) was the third son and fifth child of Victorian English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine Dickens née Hogarth. Early life and career Francis Dickens was nicknamed "Chick ...

's role as a mounted policeman in Bengal, India. One of the characters carries a walking stick with a qilin (kylin) head attached.

References

External links

Official site for author ''Matthew Pearl''

Slate article by Matthew Pearl about Dickens as a celebrity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Dickens, The 2009 American novels American mystery novels Fiction set in 1867 Fiction set in 1870 Novels set in the 1860s Novels set in the 1870s Works about Charles Dickens The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Plot summary

See also

References

External links