A satiric masterpiece about the allure and peril of money, Our Mutual Friend revolves around the inheritance of a dust-heap where the rich throw their trash. It was published in nineteen monthly numbers, in the fashion of many earlier Dickens novels, for the first time since Little Dorrit. Dickens remarked to Wilkie Collins that he was "quite dazed" at the prospect of putting out twenty monthly parts after more recent weekly serials. Dickens, who was aware that it was now taking him longer than before to write, made sure he had built up a safety net of five serial numbers before the first went to publication for May 1864. In the novel, having made his fortune from London's rubbish, a rich misanthropic miser dies, estranged from all except his faithful employees Mr and Mrs Boffin. By his will, his fortune goes to his estranged son John Harmon, who is to return from where he has settled abroad to claim it, on condition that he marries a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer. One of the themes of the novel is the corruption that wealth can bring. Bella Wilfer undergoes great changes during the novel as she deals with this issue. Also, Our Mutual Friend encompasses the great themes of author’s earlier works: the pretensions of the nouveaux riches, the ingenuousness of the aspiring poor, and the unfailing power of wealth to corrupt all who crave it. Listen online to free English audiobook "Our Mutual Friend” on our website to experience the last novel completed novel by Charles Dickens.
