Dan Simmons' novel “Drood” imagines the final years of Charles Dickens’ life told through the eyes of his real-life contemporary Wilkie Collins. Collins himself, a very popular novelist of the time, is revealed to be a delusional, egotistical drug-addict whose behavior and unreliability as the narrator lend chilling tension to the mystery centered on Dickens’ encounter with the mysterious title character.
Simmons’ research on Dickens is richly rewarding, and the horror of the real situation that unfolds throughout the novel, with various twists and turns, is a compelling and satisfying read. It almost makes me wish I liked Dickens.
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