In his most enthralling novel yet, the critically acclaimed author Matthew Pearl reopens one of literary history’s greatest mysteries. The...
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Apr 15, 2009
"The Dante Club" was marvelous. "The Poe Shadow" was astounding. Now, Pearl tackles my favorite author. It has to be a blockbuster!I finished this book. Mr. Pearl has done it again!! I thought nothing could top his novel on Poe, but I was wrong: run to read this book!!!
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Mar 17, 2009
My friend, who recommended Drood to me, told me about this new novel. Amazon gave it a good review - reading this after Drood I believe would be interesting.
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Jan 02, 2012
Sarahbm
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I thought it was a very good read with an intricate plot. There are times when I don't enjoy historical figures as characters; however, in this case, once I finished the book, I was glad that the characters had been real people. Pearl does a great job of crafting an exciting story around a historical mystery.
I do have several points of criticism. I felt that there were times when the actions of the characters weren't explained or that comments didn't fit in with the moment, particularl More...
I do have several points of criticism. I felt that there were times when the actions of the characters weren't explained or that comments didn't fit in with the moment, particularl More...
Sep 11, 2011
Wendall Paul
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What I enjoyed most about this story was the historical fiction aspect of it. Historical fiction novels give a person the opportunity to not merely be entertained by a good tale, but also learn something in regards to the past of which one may have not been aware. I knew Charles Dickens as one of the greatest authors in literature's history; I had no idea he was such a international star as Matthew Pearl demonstrates here.
The thrust of the plot is Charles Dickens is dead. He has n More...
The thrust of the plot is Charles Dickens is dead. He has n More...
Sep 10, 2011
Tim
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This another of Matthew Pearl’s impeccably plausible historical settings for a thoroughly implausible plot – an easy and entertaining read that staggers between apparent documentary effects and much less reliable literary effects, sometimes straight out of Sax Rohmer and Dickens himself.
Apart from the leaden first chapter (which seems to have been tacked on, paradoxically, as an afterthought or perhaps, more cynically, to hook weaker readers into a purchase at the bookshop shelves), More...
Apart from the leaden first chapter (which seems to have been tacked on, paradoxically, as an afterthought or perhaps, more cynically, to hook weaker readers into a purchase at the bookshop shelves), More...
Jun 14, 2011
Sarah
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In 1870, the world is rocked with the news of the sudden death of literary genius Charles Dickens. The publishing house of Fields & Osgood is particularly shaken, their exclusive publishing rights to Dickens’ newest book, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, is their strongest chance to survive as a company, and now it looks like the rest of the story will not be forthcoming unless Dickens has miraculously written 2/3 of a book before his death. When they send a young intern, Daniel Sand, to England
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Mar 28, 2011
Keith
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As historical novels go I think this one was particularly fascinating in how intricately the events of the story’s fictional characters are interwoven with the actual historical events of Dickens life. James Ripley Osgood, the junior partner in the American publishing firm representing Charles Dickens, sets out in pursuit of clues to the conclusion of Dickens final novel which was left only half finished at the time of his death. The completion of the novel is of great import to his American p
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Feb 07, 2011
Alcornell
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this was quite a lot harder to get into than the Dante Club...but I remain a fan of this author. Pearl always educates, and this book is no exception. The mystery of Edwin Drood remains a mystery, and yet The Last Dickens proposes a tale so believable one thinks it must be true. But so much of Dickens remains a mystery in this tale. And the book did not flow as well as I expected. I did not fully understand the purpose of telling a story about Dickens' son in India, except to transition the
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Feb 07, 2011
Laura
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1870. Charles Dickens is dead. He leaves behind a struggling publisher, a bereaved public, and an unfinished novel. The Mystery of Edwin Drood promised to be Dickens' masterpiece, equally adored and misunderstood, and revolved around the question of whether the young hero was murdered or in hiding. Now the mystery will never be solved; the novel is only half written.
Or is it?
It falls to James Osgood, Dickens' American publisher, to find out the truth. Along the way, he m More...
Or is it?
It falls to James Osgood, Dickens' American publisher, to find out the truth. Along the way, he m More...
Jan 16, 2011
Pattyrflg
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I listened to this on CD. I have been a Dickens fan for many years, but have never read his last novel "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." This book centers around Dickens' American publisher and the search for the possible ending of the novel after his death. The book moves back and forth between the time after the death of Dickens and his last tour of the United States. It was interesting to learn that writers during that period were paid very little for their books and English authors had
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Jan 05, 2011
ruzmarì
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I wanted to like this novel, really I did. I love Dickens's novels and pretty much anything to do with Dickens, and I have an especial soft spot for Drood. But Pearl's novel left me cold. I kept trying to get more involved in the plot's nefarious twists and turns, and to appreciate his trademark authorial touches, including the subtle nod at recent Dickens scholars with a postcolonial lens ... but the novel kept rejecting my attempts at affection. It begins with a premise familiar to anyone who
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Feb 13, 2010
Amy
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The Last Dickens engulfs readers and transports us to times and methods gone by in the writing and publishing world and the rather seedy opium business. Who knew that there were Bookaneers [scrappy people who stop at nothing to access unpublished works by various authors:] and such vengeful publishers about? Today of course there are bidding wars between publishing houses for someone’s memoir or novel but it is not the pirate-like business in which author Matthew Pearl describes in The Last Dick
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Dec 29, 2009
Literary Feline
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Starting a review is always a difficult task for me. I come up with ideas and end up dismissing them on second or third thought. In regards to this review, should I begin with the fact that this is my first Matthew Pearl novel? I have wanted to read his books for some time now but it took a book tour for me to finally pick one up and give it a try. This seems to be something I have been doing quite a bit--joining a book tour as an excuse to read a book I’ve wanted to read but haven’t managed
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Oct 03, 2009
Nicola
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Reason for Reading: I'm always interested in Victorian historical fiction plus I've read two other books this year that concerned Charles Dickens: 'Drood' by Dan Simmons and 'Wanting' by Richard Flanagan. Therefore I thought why not add a third to the mix especially since this concentrated on Dickens last novel as did 'Drood'.
Comments: Dickens has just died leaving his last book "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" only half-finished. But one of the partners of his American publis More...
Comments: Dickens has just died leaving his last book "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" only half-finished. But one of the partners of his American publis More...
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Sep 02, 2009
Linda
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The first Matthew Pearl novel I read was THE POE SHADOW, which was a fascinating concept --- allowing the reader to experience such a famous (and mysterious) writer as a real person. I felt that the idea was not equaled by the execution in that book. I thought I would try one more time, however, so I just finished reading THE LAST DICKENS, obviously a novel featuring Charles Dickens. Once again, the concept was great. In both cases the author based his characters and events on true stories a
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Jun 18, 2009
Judy
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I enjoyed this story about Charles Dickens’s last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which was only half-finished when Dickens died. Many scenes in the story are drawn from actual events, like Dickens’ book-signing tour in the U.S. two years before his death, his friendship with American authors Bryant, Irving, Longfellow, and others, a train wreck he was in when he heroically rescued passengers from a railcar dangling off a bridge, his life at his estate Gadshill Place, his public readings of
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May 20, 2009
Gail
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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May 12, 2009
Mark
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With a turban-headed fellow later identified as a Parsee in pursuit, poor Daniel Sand, employee of the Boston Publisher Fields and Osgood, is killed by a trolley. Sand had gone out to fetch the last available parts of Charles Dickens’s latest novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The publisher needed this manuscript badly for Dickens had died unexpectedly earlier in the year (1870) and now the Fields and Osgood had to publish fast before rival publishing houses beat them to it. (With no internat
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May 05, 2009
Michelle
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Pearl plunges into the world of 1870, skillfully blending historical fact and literary fiction into a riveting tale about Charles Dickens’ unfinished last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Drawing on original letters and newspapers, Pearl recounts the extraordinary celebrity of Dickens during his speaking tour of America, where hundreds would line up overnight, enduring freezing temperatures in the hopes of obtaining tickets to his sold out shows.
The seedy underworld of the opium More...
Drawing on original letters and newspapers, Pearl recounts the extraordinary celebrity of Dickens during his speaking tour of America, where hundreds would line up overnight, enduring freezing temperatures in the hopes of obtaining tickets to his sold out shows.
The seedy underworld of the opium More...
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Apr 18, 2009
Tony
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Pearl, Matthew. THE LAST DICKENS. (2009). *****. Pearl manages to provide us with an intelligent – but rip-roaring adventure at the same time – mystery story surrounding Charles Dickens’ last novel, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” The plot involves the American publishing house of Fields & Osgood, formerly Ticknor & Fields, the only authorized publishing house in America for Dickens’ novels. These were the days of no international copyright laws, and English books were most often pirated by
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May 02, 2011
Questo è il terzo libro di Matthew Pearl che leggo. O meglio tento di leggere nel senso che, mentre il primo libro Il Circolo Dante mi era sembrato interessante e originale per quanto un po' noiosetto, ero stata "costretta" ad abbandonare a meno della metà la seconda opera di Pearl, L'Ombra di Edgar,perchè più soporifera di un container di camomilla. Nonostante queste poco incoraggianti premesse mi sono lasciata tentare da questo nuovo romanzo, attirata soprattutto dal titolo originale
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Nov 17, 2010
Valetta
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Forse due stelline è un po' poco per un libro che ha una trama originale e ben congeniata, personaggi interessanti e descrizioni attente e accurate...Eppure ilromanzo, nonostante tutte queste qualità risulta spesso lento e noioso!
L'idea di base è potenzialmente molto interessante in quanto parte da uno dei più grossi misteri della letteratura mondiale: qual'è la sorte del giovane Edwin Drood, protagonista dell'omonimo romanzo di Dickens, rimasto a metà a causa della morte del suo autore? E se la More...
L'idea di base è potenzialmente molto interessante in quanto parte da uno dei più grossi misteri della letteratura mondiale: qual'è la sorte del giovane Edwin Drood, protagonista dell'omonimo romanzo di Dickens, rimasto a metà a causa della morte del suo autore? E se la More...
Nov 20, 2009
Amanda
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This book wasn't as exciting for me as Pearl's first novel, The Dante Club, but I did enjoy it more than The Poe Shadow. Pearl created a few very interesting characters and it was fun to get to know the real Dickens through his portrayal which, though fictional, was based as much as possible on historical accounts of things he said and did, and places he visited. The mystery itself wasn't incredibly exciting- more interesting was the unraveling of different relationships between characters and t
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May 17, 2009
Dee
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A mystery with two lovely main characters -- the American publisher of Charles Dickesn and his lovely divorced bookkeeper. The story bounces back between narrators and between England and America, following the last years of Dickens life, and the time just after his death when everyone was looking for the rest of the novel of Drood. Opium and mesmerism and the underbelly of London again figure into the story. This one is more elegantly plotted than "Drood," with a happy ending inclu
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Jan 02, 2012
Ellie
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Matthew Pearl's third historical literary thriller turns its sights onto the mystery of Dickens' final unfinished work. Shortly after his death, Dickens' American publisher embarks on a search to find out the true ending of The Mystery of Edwin Drood before his rivals can release a fake.
One of the most interesting parts for me was that around the history of American publishing. Even in the late 17th Century Harper & Brothers (to later become the modern day HarperCollins) were conside More...
One of the most interesting parts for me was that around the history of American publishing. Even in the late 17th Century Harper & Brothers (to later become the modern day HarperCollins) were conside More...
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Dec 14, 2011
Linda
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Matthew Pearl has a winning adventure of the highest literary calibur. He attended Harvard and also has taught literature at Harvard. I will be checking out his book on Lonfellow, and Edgar Allen Poe with several cups of hot chocolate to help through the mystery of his well written books. 'The Last Dickens' comes close to the truth as most of the characters were real people and Matthew has kept to historic acuracy. Yet the book grips you with the mystery of Dickens last book.
James Osgoo More...
James Osgoo More...
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Oct 06, 2011
Steffi
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Es geht um den Bostoner Verlag Fields, Osgood & Co., der die Veröffentlichungsrechte an Dickens Roman Das Geheimnis des Edwin Drood erworben hat und nach Dickens’ Tod recherchiert, ob es Hinweise zu dem geplanten Ausgang der Geschichte gibt. Dabei erfährt der Leser nicht nur allerhand zum Konkurrenzkampf mit dem New Yorker Harper-Verlag, der mehr am Profit als an der Literatur interessiert ist (der Konflikt Verleger-Persönlichkeiten vs. Kapitalisten wirkt sehr aktuell), sondern auch über Dickens
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Nov 08, 2011
James
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I have read "Dante Club" and "The Poe Shadow" and left GoodReads reviews of both. I thought Dante Club to be a very intelligent thriller - a kind of "Se7en" set in the 1860s. The Poe Shadow was OK but somewhat disappointing as a follow-up to Dante Club.
I read "The Last Dickens" this week. It is by far the most enjoyable of the three Matthew Pearl novels without losing any of his historical style. It was very difficult to put down!
Fi More...
I read "The Last Dickens" this week. It is by far the most enjoyable of the three Matthew Pearl novels without losing any of his historical style. It was very difficult to put down!
Fi More...
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Oct 02, 2009
Randy
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A literary historical thriller.
It's 1870 shortly after the death of Charles Dickens. James Osgood, of Fields, Osgood, & Co., Dickens authorized American publisher, sends a young clerk down to the docks to get the incoming packet containing the last completed sections of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD.
When he turns up dead and the packet missing, Osgood and Rebecca Sand, the dead clerk's sister, begin a search for who's responsible.
The manuscript is easily replaced More...
It's 1870 shortly after the death of Charles Dickens. James Osgood, of Fields, Osgood, & Co., Dickens authorized American publisher, sends a young clerk down to the docks to get the incoming packet containing the last completed sections of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD.
When he turns up dead and the packet missing, Osgood and Rebecca Sand, the dead clerk's sister, begin a search for who's responsible.
The manuscript is easily replaced More...
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Oct 05, 2009
Staci
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I was really interested to read this book for several reasons. First, I have always wanted to read Dickens, but have felt intimidated by the size of his works. Secondly, I never realized that he died before finishing The Mystery of Edwin Drood and that there was all of this interest in how the story would end or if missing chapters were somehow hidden. And thirdly, because I love a good mystery centered in and around anything English. This book did not disappoint me on any levels. At first the r
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