Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold

Subtitle: A Novel Inspired by the Life and Marriage of Charles Dickens

This is an outstanding novel, a fictional examination of Dickens marriage and affair. Even the names are changed, and, as the author says in her introduction, events are rearranged to suit her narrative. But that's OK, in fact, it probably makes for a much better novel.

What's important is that it rings true and convincing, which is a testament to the author's skill. After finishing the novel, we can believe that it happened this way, and that we have had a glimpse of the real Charles Dickens.

It's not a flattering look at his personal life. The novel begins with his death, the the protagonist is his estranged wife. Dickens kicked her out of his home, denying her access to her children, ten years before he died, so that he could carry on an affair with an actress young enough to be his daughter. They didn't teach that in school when I was a kid - only recently have details emerged about Dickens personal life.

The author creates a convincing world for her fictional author, his wife, and his mistress. Highly recommended.

Link to Amazon: Girl in a Blue Dress: A Novel Inspired by the Life and Marriage of Charles Dickens

The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl

Pearl has made a career out of writing novels about literary mysteries. He has written a novel about a translation of Dante, about Edgar Allen Poe's death, and this novel, which deals with the end of the life of Charles Dickens and the end of his unfinished novel, the Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Pearl chooses as a protagonist the publisher of Dickens novels in Boston. The seamier side of the publishing industry is revealed, at a time when there was no international copyright law and the theft of manuscripts was common. The plot involves the publisher traveling to England to search for the end of the unfinished novel. It is, of course, a little contrived, but entertaining. Flashbacks include Dickens last reading tour of America, and a glimpse of the English opium trade in India. Opium plays a large part in Dickens novel, so Pearl uses it to good advantage in his novel.

A "solution" to Dickens unfinished novel is proposed, one involving real characters that Dickens supposedly based his novel on. Overall it's a good read, probably the best of the Pearl literary mysteries.

Link to Amazon: The Last Dickens: A Novel

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens

This is Dickens' last unfinished novel. My cunning plan is to read this, then read some of the many novels that attempt to finish the novel for Dickens, or deal with the end of Dickens life. Any excuse to read more books!

Actually, even though the novel is unfinished, it's a satisfying read. Edwin Drood disappears. He is a young, happy-go-lucky, man who was engaged in an arranged marriage. Just as Edwin and his fiance break off their engagement, he disappears. Public suspicion falls on a friend of his, another young man. But all clues tend to point to his uncle Jasper, who seems obsessed with Edwin's fiance. Jasper is also a secret opium addict, smoking it in the opening scene in a den in London.

No one knows where Dickens intended to take the novel. Is Edwin really dead? Or has he just disappeared because of the termination of his engagement? We'll never know, but that hasn't stopped other writers from speculating.

Link to Amazon: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Penguin Classics)