The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Modern Library Classics) - Softcover

Charles Dickens

Softcover

ISBN 10: 081298045X ISBN 13: 9780812980455

Publisher: Modern Library, 2009

Synopsis

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a novel that is itself the subject of one of literature s most enduring mysteries. The story recounts the troubled romance of Rosa Bud and the book s eponymous character, who later vanishes. Was Drood murdered, and if so by whom? All clues point to John Jasper, Drood s lugubrious uncle, who coveted Rosa. Or did Drood orchestrate his own disappearance? As Charles Dickens died before finishing the book, the ending is intriguingly ambiguous. In his Introduction, Matthew Pearl illuminates the 150-year-long quest to unravel The Mystery of Edwin Drood and lends new insight into the novel, the literary milieu of 1870s England, and the private life of Charles Dickens. This Modern Library edition includes new endnotes and a full transcript of The Trial of John Jasper for the Murder of Edwin Drood, the 1914 mock court case presided over and argued by the likes of G. K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw. Now diehard fans, new readers, and armchair detectives have another opportunity to solve the mystery Dickens took to his grave.

About this title

Book Description:

With an exclusive introduction by Peter Ackroyd, these out of print editions are brought back to life with a fresh and timeless new look.

From the Back Cover:

Charles Dickens’s final, unfinished novel has inspired generations of speculation ... Choirmaster John Jasper is a man of deep hypocrisy. His public reputation is flawless yet privately he leads an immoral life, frequenting squalid opium dens. And although outwardly he seems delighted with the betrothal of his nephew Edwin Drood to Rosa Bud, one of his choristers, secretly he is consumed by jealousy. But he is not alone in hoping for Edwin’s demise. Among others, hot-tempered Neville Landless has also made an enemy of Drood - so when Edwin disappears, at whom should the accusing finger point? This special edition features an exclusive introduction by the highly acclaimed writer Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain’s leading literary biographers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Modern Library
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 081298045X
• ISBN 13: 9780812980455
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400