Our Mutual Friend is a satiric masterpiece on the allure and peril of money. It is the last novel Dickens finished, and it's the book he was working on when he had a near-death experience on a train. We will read roughly four chapters a week, in the same groupings of chapters as it was originally published when it appeared in installments in the years 1864 and 1865 — but we'll read one installment a week (roughly four chapters) instead of one a month.

The plot of Our Mutual Friend is the most cunning thing Dickens ever designed — a sprawling but propulsive story full of twists, intrigue, blackmail, buried treasure, and juicy characters, from a taxidermist named Mr. Venus to a dolls' dressmaker named Jenny Wray. 

There are more female characters than are found in your average Dickens novel, including Bella Wilfer, a young woman interested in "money, money, money, and what money can make of life"; Lizzie Hexam, the deeply loyal daughter of an accused murderer; Mrs. Boffin, wife of a rich buffoon; and others. 

And the male characters unforgettable, including a lawyer named Mortimer Lightwood, a one-legged man named Silas Wegg, a schoolmaster named Bradley Headstone, a moneylender named Mr. Fledgeby, and the police detective in charge of trying to solve the murder mystery at the center of the story.

Who is leading this club?

Christopher Frizzelle led a Moby-Dick book club for FrizzLit back in 2020, an experience he wrote about for the Washington Post. It is the most-requested title for a "re-do" club, so we're doing it again! Frizzelle is the founder of FrizzLit, the editor and publisher of FrizzLit Editions, the former editor-in-chief of The Stranger, and the inventor and host of the Silent Reading Party. 

What to read before the first meeting

Nothing. You do not need to read anything before our first meeting. Come ready to hear about the historical context of the novel and the real-life near-death experience Dickens endured on a train while writing it. 

All meetings are recorded

They will be sent to your email address within 48 hours of each meeting.

Recommended edition

During this club, we will refer to the page numbers in the Modern Library edition shown — new and used — at the top of this page. If you buy it here on Bookshop, a portion of the proceeds go to FrizzLit, but it's currently on backorder there. The edition is also available here on Amazon, or you could support an independent bookstore, or find a copy at the library. The edition you read isn't all that important. Any edition of Our Mutual Friend will work.  

Art

Charles Dickens splendidly illustrated by Kathryn Rathke

Join in installments

Instead of committing to all 20 weeks up front, you can sign up in installements and pay as you go: