In his most enthralling novel yet, the critically acclaimed author Matthew Pearl reopens one of literary historys greatest mysteries. The Last Dickens is a tale filled with the dazzling twists and turns, the unerring period details, and the meticulous research that thrilled readers of the bestsellers The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow.
Boston, 1870. When news of Charles Dickenss untimely death reaches the office of his struggling American publisher, Fields & Osgood, partner James Osgood sends his trusted clerk Daniel Sand to await the arrival of Dickenss unfinished novel. But when Daniels 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 he hopes will save his venerable business and reveal Daniels killer.
Danger and intrigue abound on the journey to England, for which Osgood has chosen Rebecca Sand, Daniels older sister, to assist him. As they attempt to uncover Dickenss 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 Dickenss inner circle. They soon realize that understanding Dickenss lost ending is a matter of life and death, and the hidden key to stopping a murderous mastermind.
"Some awkward prose distracts ... while the ending may strike some readers as a cop-out." - Publishers Weekly.
"A pleasing whodunit that resolves nicely, bookending Dan Simmons's novel Drood as an imaginative exercise in what might be called alternative literary history." - Kirkus Reviews.
"A whole world of life-and-death nefariousness awaits both him and the reader, who will be well rewarded." - Booklist.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Matthew Pearl is the author of the novels The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow, The Last Dickens, and The Technologists. His books have been New York Times bestsellers and international bestsellers translated into more than 30 languages. His nonfiction writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and Slate.com. He has been heard on shows including NPR's All Things Considered and Weekend Edition Sunday.
Matthew Pearl grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School. He has also taught literature and creative writing at Harvard University and Emerson College, and has been a Visiting Lecturer in law and literature at Harvard Law School. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
From the author's website
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