For the last few days I’ve been reading the new Terry Pratchett novel Dodger, which takes place in Victorian London and is a fun mix of historical cameos (both fictional and non-fictional) a mystery novel, and is overall a pretty great story. In my opinion the main reason for this is our main character, Dodger.
Dodger is a seventeen-year-old tosher, meaning that he makes his living from scavenging through the sewers of London for lost coins, trinkets and other treasures. Throughout the novel Dodger (named because of his quick ability to get away from would-be aggressors) moves through the London from Street level all the way up to the powers that be, and the whole way through he comes across as carefully descent, helping out where he can, but not so much as to be taken advantage of by others.
Helping him in the novel is journalist Charlie Dickens, and throughout the story he meets all sorts of folks – ranging from Benjamin Disreali to Sweeny Todd. To be fair, my favourite historical cameo I’ve come across in the last few months is the “villainous” Charles Darwin who works as the bad guy in the family film The Pirates! Band of Misfits. But the cameos in Dodger are a lot of fun as well.
In the end, what I like best about Dodger is his sense of right and wrong; considering he’s a guy who digs through the sewers everyday, he just comes across as someone who know the right thing to do in even the trickiest of situations.
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