 Cover | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Kidby |
| Language | English |
| Set in | London,VE |
| Published | 13 September 2012 (UK), (Doubleday Children's) |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 978-0385619271 |
Dodger is a novel written byTerry Pratchett, set in earlyVictorianLondon, and inspired byCharles Dickens's character theArtful Dodger.[1]The book was released on 13 September 2012 in the UK.[2]
One night on the streets of London, a battered young woman leaps from acarriage, followed and assaulted by two men. The protagonist Dodger, astreet urchin andtosher, emerging from a sewer drain, comes to her help and chases away the attackers. This is witnessed by two gentlemen, Charlie and Henry, who take the girl to the latter's nearby home, accompanied by Dodger. A doctor treats her injuries and discovers that she was pregnant and thechild is lost.
Dodger's actions impress the gentlemen, as does the genuine affection they quickly see growing between him and the girl, who is tentatively called Simplicity. Charlie gives Dodger the task of finding information on the streets about her and the carriage from which she escaped. During the next days, Dodger thwarts a robbery attempt at the offices of theMorning Chronicle when meeting Charlie, and causes the arrest of a murderousbarber namedSweeney Todd when he tries to improve his appearance before meeting Simplicity. These incidents turn Dodger into a celebrity, which helps him gather information, but also make it impossible for him to stay anonymous. This endangers Simplicity and prompts Charlie to have her moved to the house of his rich friendAngela Burdett-Coutts.
Through their activities (and from the recovered Simplicity herself), Charlie and Dodger learn that the girl had secretly married a prince of one of theGerman states and thereby become an obstacle to a plannedpolitical marriage. Her husband had then done nothing against his family's decision to destroy all evidence of the unsanctioned marriage, including Simplicity herself – the vicar and two witnesses to the wedding have already been killed.
This political dimension of the case (along with his celebrity status) soon have Dodger meet some of the Empire's top politicians, such asBenjamin Disraeli andRobert Peel. He learns that the family of Simplicity's husband is pressuring the British government to return her, and that the government cannot outright refuse this demand. Additionally, a mysteriousassassin known only as the Outlander is rumoured to be looking for Dodger and Simplicity.
Dodger decides that the only solution is to fake Simplicity's death. Through subterfuge, he acquires the body of a girl looking similar to Simplicity who had died throughsuicide, and prepares it to be found after a faked attack (during which the real Simplicity would hide) witnessed by Charlie and Disraeli during a planned excursion into London's sewers. The plan is nearly foiled when the Outlander appears, turning out to be a woman. However, with the help of Simplicity, Dodger manages to defeat the assassin and go through with the plan after all. The two young lovers hide a while inSomerset and then return to London, where Dodger has an audience withQueen Victoria and is offered work as aspy for the government, which he accepts as it suits his talents.
According to the author's afterword, the story is set "broadly in the first quarter of Queen Victoria's reign", which would be between 1837 and 1853. However, Pratchett had to "tweak" history a little to get the combination of persons he wanted in place: specifically, Sir Robert Peel is shown asHome Secretary, which he was under Victoria's predecessorWilliam IV.
In November 2013, Pratchett releasedDodger's Guide to London.[3]
