37 h 7 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 37 h 7 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On the Thames at night, a body and a fortune draw strangers into the same dark current.
In Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend, Gaffer Hexam and his daughter Lizzie search the river for bodies and valuables. Their work draws them into a mystery surrounding John Harmon, who returns to England to claim his father’s fortune. The inheritance comes with a condition: he must marry Bella Wilfer, a woman he has never met.
With that marriage apparently impossible, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin take Bella into their home. She longs for money, but affection and self-respect make competing claims. Meanwhile, Lizzie seeks safety and independence as Eugene Wrayburn and Bradley Headstone pursue her attention. Around them, London’s dinner guests, moneylenders, and struggling workers reveal what wealth can do to love and kindness.
What you’ll discover
- A fortune from refuse Enter a London where rubbish becomes wealth and people risk being treated as waste.
- Love under pressure Follow Bella as her hunger for money meets the demands of affection and self-respect.
- A dangerous rivalry Watch a restless lawyer and an intense schoolmaster turn their attention toward Lizzie.
- Jenny Wren’s sharp eye Meet a young doll’s dressmaker whose skilled hands and clear gaze expose adult pretensions.
- Comedy with a bite Find strange, memorable people in a society where money puts kindness and dignity to the test.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy big Victorian stories with a mystery at the center, sharp comic portraits of the rich, and tender scenes about people who are poor and brave.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The river joins money and death
- A fortune comes with a condition
- Bella wants more than poverty offers
- The fortune draws people together
- Poverty threatens the bonds of family
- Jealousy turns attention into danger
- Respectability can hide a scheme
- Bella begins to question wealth
- A city reveals what money buys
Who’s who
- Lizzie HexamA brave river-born girl who rows her father's boat, loves her brother and longs for learning and a better life.
- Gaffer HexamLizzie's father, a rough river scavenger who lives on what he takes from drowned bodies and keeps his own harsh code.
- Bella WilferA pretty, spoiled girl named in a strange will who wants money badly and learns hard lessons about herself.
- John RokesmithA shy, watchful lodger and then secretary to the Boffins who hides a purpose and admires Bella from a distance.
- Mr and Mrs BoffinA kind, simple old couple who inherit the dust fortune and want to do right by those around them.
- Eugene WrayburnA clever, idle barrister who treats life as a joke and takes a careless interest in Lizzie.
- Bradley HeadstoneA strict schoolmaster who masters facts but not his own feelings, and who burns with jealousy over Lizzie.
- Jenny WrenA small, sharp-tongued dolls' dressmaker who sees through everyone and fiercely guards her friend Lizzie.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Our Mutual Friend in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Our Mutual Friend
by Charles Dickens · 1864
A river scavenger tows a drowned man home while London dinner guests hear of a missing heir.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read16 languages
Learn a language with challenging classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What do you do when you find a drowned man in the Thames at dusk? Gaffer Hexam checks the pockets and counts the coins.
Our Mutual Friend at a glance
- Reading time
- About 21 h 25 min17 h fast, 25 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 305,600 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1864by Charles Dickens
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A river scavenger and his daughter at dusk
The novel opens on the Thames as an autumn evening closes. A dirty boat carries a rough man with graying hair and a dark-haired girl of nineteen or twenty. She rows with practiced ease, and he watches the water like a hunter.
The man is Gaffer Hexam, and the girl is his daughter Lizzie. He searches the river for bodies and lives on what he finds in their pockets.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1864
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 24 h 10 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/our-mutual-friend.
Dickens, C. (2026). Our mutual friend. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/our-mutual-friend (Original work published 1864)
Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/our-mutual-friend.
@book{dickens2026our,
author = {Dickens, Charles},
title = {Our Mutual Friend},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/our-mutual-friend},
note = {First published 1864}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Our Mutual Friend
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Our Mutual Friend about?
It follows a fortune made from London dust heaps, a young heir said to be drowned in the Thames, and the people who gather around the money, including river scavengers, a spoiled beauty and a jealous schoolmaster.
Who is the mutual friend in Our Mutual Friend?
The phrase is used in the book in a way that points to a go-between known to several characters. Readers often find its full meaning clearer once they meet the Boffins and their secretary.
What does the dust mean in Our Mutual Friend?
Dust stands for the rubbish of the city that turns into wealth. The dust mounds show how fortunes can come from what others throw away, and how money can corrupt or free the people who own it.
The author
Charles Dickens
1812–1870 · English novelist
Charles Dickens was an English novelist born in Portsmouth in 1812. He lived in London and later at Gad’s Hill Place in Kent, where he died in 1870. His books include The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849–1850), and Great Expectations (1860–1861).
More by Charles Dickens
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
