OUR MUTUAL FRIEND

Dickens' last complete novel of Victorian society is a vision of a culture stifled by materialistic values. The chief of its several plots centres on John Harmon who returns to England as his father's heir. He is believed drowned under suspicious circumstances - a situation convenient to his wish for anonymity until he can evaluate Bella Wilfer whom he must marry to secure his inheritance. Colourful characters and incidents the faded aristocrats and parvenus gathered at the Veneering's dinner table, Betty Higden and her terror of the workhouse and the greedy plottings of Silas Wegg. Includes illus, 794pp. Paperback.