The Last Dickens (original 2009; edition 2010)

by Matthew Pearl

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1,335	61	14,130	(3.52)	82
Boston, 1870. When news of Charles Dickens's untimely death reaches the office of his struggling American publisher, Fields & Osgood, partner James Osgood sends Daniel Sand to take possession of the unfinished novel. When Sand is killed, Osgood and Rebecca Sand journey to England determined to recover the manuscript and stop a murderous mastermind.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	oldstick
Title:	The Last Dickens
Authors:	Matthew Pearl
Info:	Vintage (2010), Paperback, 464 pages
Collections:	Your library, Read but unowned
Rating:
Tags:	historical

Work Information

The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl (2009)

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suzecate: They're historical mystery/thriller set in Victorian England and involving Charles Dickens.
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English (56) Spanish (4) Portuguese (Portugal) (1) All languages (61)

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the research was good and while I felt the ending was a bit abrupt found it enjoyable overall (

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cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |

I must admit up front I've never been a Dickens fan (or of any of the mid-Victorians). Consequently, I'm sure there are aspects of Pearl's novel that completely blew past me. However, it was still an enjoyable read/listen. I am intrigued enough about Dickens himself to contemplate reading a biography. (Anyone care to recommend one?) (

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Treebeard_404 | Jan 23, 2024 |

Did get a little Deja-vu in the early part of this book, around the Bookanneers, which lead me to think I'd read this book (or something very similar) before, which disappointed me a little. [return][return]However, this is a decent thriller, where the American Publisher of "Edwin Drood", travels to investigate whether the remaining 6 instalments actually exist after the death of Charles Dickens. It criss crosses to Dickens' trip to the US 3 years before and (a little lamely I thought) to Dickens junior's work in India supporting the Empire's drug trade (did it really need to be the son, or could it have been anybody?) (

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nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |

Well researched and beautifully narrated (

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harishwriter | Oct 12, 2023 |

Not that well-written; many clinker sentences and strange scene shifts. Learned quite a bit about Dickens, however.

Octavia78 | Jul 26, 2023 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Matthew Pearl	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Bachman, Barbara M.	Designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Stvan, Thomas Beck	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Massachusetts Book Award (Must-Read (Longlist) – Fiction – 2010)

Distinctions

Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice (Literary Mystery/Crime)

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Canonical title

The Last Dickens

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People/Characters

Important places

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

London, England, UK

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Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Neither of the young mounted policemen fancied these subdivisions of the Bagirhaut province.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Brown, Dan

Maguire, Gregory

Carr, Caleb

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The Last Dickens

▾Book descriptions

Boston, 1870. When news of Charles Dickens's untimely death reaches the office of his struggling American publisher, Fields & Osgood, partner James Osgood sends Daniel Sand to take possession of the unfinished novel. When Sand is killed, Osgood and Rebecca Sand journey to England determined to recover the manuscript and stop a murderous mastermind.

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Book description

Boston, 1870. When the news of Charles Dicken's sudden death reaches his struggling American publisher, James Osgood sends his trusted cler, Daniel Sand, to await the arrival of Dicken's unfinished final manuscript. But Daniel never returns, and when his body is discovered by the docks, Osgood must embark on a quest to find the missing end to the novel and unmask the killer. With Daniel's sister Rebecca at his side, Osgood races the clock through a dangerous web of opium dens, sadistic thugs, and literary lions to solve a genius's last mystery and save his own life-and the life of the woman he loves. (978-0-8129-7802-5)

Haiku summary

True or false: Dickens
died before he could finish
his last book. Discuss.
(passion4reading)