Dodger (review)

On a stormy night in a reimagined Victorian London, a young woman tumbles from a carriage, pursued by thugs intent on delivering a sound thrashing before they drag her back. Help comes from two quarters: a shabby but gallant young man rises out of the sewer wielding a crowbar and a set of brass knuckles that he uses to chase away the miscreants, while a pair of gentlemen, Mr. Dickens and Mr. Mayhew, set about helping the young woman. Thus Charlie Dickens makes the acquaintance of Dodger and engages him in uncovering the mysteries that have led to the young woman's present predicament. An expensive ring on her finger indicates that she is foreign and important, but she's unwilling to explain her situation to anyone but Dodger, and even then she withholds her name, calling herself Simplicity when it is clear that she is anything but. Taking up Simplicity's cause leads Dodger into the company of the wealthiest and most powerful people in London, including Benjamin Disraeli, Sir Robert Peel, and Angela Burdett-Coutts. Pratchett weaves fact and fiction seamlessly here, altering both while keeping the flavor of the city vibrantly real. Dodger, for instance, achieves fame and fortune when he avoids a fatal haircut by disarming Sweeney Todd, and he takes a young Joseph Bazalgette on an enlightening tour through the London sewers. Dickens himself takes out his notebook whenever Dodger says something particularly interesting about, say, a "bleak house," or when noting his "great expectations" for Dodger's prospects, and other such sly jokes abound. The genius of Pratchett is that readers need not understand all of the clever witticisms and subtle allusions in order to appreciate the exciting plot twists. Getting the jokes, however, adds a wealth of pleasure for alert and knowledgeable readers; an extensive author's note offers suggestions for those who have been inspired to learn more about Victorian London, real and imagined.