I have a bit of a problem with Dickens: he tires me. I like him, but I always finish his books feeling exhausted. There are some of his books which I devoured (like Little Dorrit and A Tale of Two Cities), but there are others that drag on forever. This book is closer to the second class than to the first, to be honest. Not that I didn’t like it, but I had hard time reading it. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mind to it.

Overall, the plot develops around the inheritance of a fortune. As the heir apparent turns up dead

or so he seems to

, the money goes to Mr. Boffin, a poor and nice man. Soon, he hires a secretary, John Rokesmith and his wife basically adopts young Bella Wilfer. Bella was born poor, but was promised to marry John Harmon, the heir to the fortune (you know, the one who appeared dead). After that, she’s basically left without nothing, but the Boffins take her under their wing. At first she seems to be quite snobbish, as her only concern is the money; but she slowly warms up to Rokesmith, and ends falling for him.

Mr. Boffin, as the novel goes on, seems to change a lot. While in the beginning he’s very nice and treats everyone fairly. He becomes uppity and cruel, showing that his money has changed him. I started rooting for him, but as the story goes on I wanted to give him a good kick in his butt. Specially, because his wife is so adorable. Seriously, she was my favorite in the whole book. At some points I wanted to But here comes the plot twist:

He’s acting for Bella’s benefit, or rather, for Rokesmith’s. Do you remember the dead guy? Well, he isn’t dead. In a true Dickensian twist, John Rokesmith is John Harmon, and threw this whole thing to get to know Bella, his betrothed. And to teach her a lesson, of course. This is Dickens, after all.

Of course, Dickens being Dickens, it’s obvious that the novel portrays the different social classes in London in the 19th century. We get to see the most miserable and horrible parts of society, like the orphanage where Mrs. Boffin tries to adopt a boy, who dies later.

The novel also deals with how people are changed by money, and how it can corrupt you into not seeing the good parts of life. He shows rich families that are mocked and ridiculized for their attitudes and their way of living. Dickens is really good at showing different realities and his world view in his novels, and it’s one of the things I’ve always enjoyed about him.

If you like Dickens and stories that show society’s vices and that deal with mistaken identities (a Victorian favorite!), this might be the book for you. But if you can’t stand novels with lots of characters, convoluted plots and really depressing stuff, maybe it’s better that you stay clear of it.