What if
Dickens has actually finished the last installment of The Mystery of Edwin Drood after all? What would be the fate of the
poor young Edwin Drood? If you have lived in England or America in 1870, these
questions must have filled mind of people everywhere—Dickens’ readers,
publishers, and perhaps all the literary world—following the death of the great
author. For James R. Osgood in particular, it is about the life and death of
Fields, Osgood & Co., the publishing company who holds the rights to
publish Dickens’ books in America. Matthew Pearl crafted this historical event
into a wonderful 19th century mystery novel.
After
Dickens died, the last installment of Drood
was shipped to Boston. It was the sixth and last installment from the most beloved
author in England as well as in America at that time. Unfortunately, the junior
clerk whose task was to procure the manuscript from the ship at the dock, had
an accident and died. At first the police believed it’s an accident caused by
opium overdose, but it was found later that he was ruthlessly killed. It’s double
lost for Osgood, as he lost his reliable employee and the manuscript at the
same time. And without Drood, Fields,
Osgood & Co. might not survive another year…
But who did
it? Was it their publishing rival, the Harpers, who have been using the Bookaneers (literary pirates) to be able
to publish cheaper editions of top authors’ novels? Was it Dickens’ fanatic fan
who wanted to collect the author’s last writing just for himself? Or was it
related to the opium smuggling, which Pearl has used as his opening, just as
Dickens used it in Drood? Throughout
the book, these themes were intertwined alongside the interesting detailed stories
of Dickens’ reading tours in America in 1870.
Together
with his pretty widowed bookkeeper, Rebecca Sand, Osgood departed to England to
trace Drood’s trail, that perhaps he
could get Dickens’ unpublished piece on Drood
which will be an added value to the original (unfinished) book his publishing
company would like to print; before the Harpers and other pirate companies
publish their cheaper issues, and kill Fields, Osgood & Co.’s business. But
Osgood and Rebecca’s journey was not merely business or literary journey, it turned
out to be very dangerous. Osgood was no longer a dedicated literary
businessman; he must also act as a detective. Not only to save his company (and
in certain point his own life!), Osgood must save the most precious literary legacy
in the world, the genuine work of Charles Dickens—or its remnants….
The question
is, did his enemies’ intentions were as noble as Osgood’s? Who was going to
win? And the most important, perhaps, what would become of Drood? Or in other word, was there any possibility—even very small
one—that Dickens did write the ending before he died? Or at least…did he ever
mention his intention of Drood’s
ending? These points perhaps, besides Dickens’ charisma which surpassed
centuries, that made this book so engaging and exciting to follow, helped, of
course, by Pearl’s thorough research and his ability to revive the history in
its original style.
So far I
have read three of Pearl’s historical novels about classics authors: Poe Shadow, The Dante Club and The Last Dickens. But this is the only
book in which the author became one of the characters. I have never read any
book in which Dickens is ‘alive’, and it makes The Last Dickens my new favorite
historical fiction. Kudos to Matthew Pearl; and now I can hardly wait his
latest literary-hisfic on Robert Louis Stevenson: The Last Bookaneer!
Five stars
for The Last Dickens.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I read Vintage Books paperback edition
This book is counted
for:
2nd book for 2015 TBR Pile Challenge
14th book for Historical Fiction Challenge 2013–2015
