The Puzzle of Dickens's Last Plot

** "The Puzzle of Dickens's Last Plot" by Andrew Lang is an early 1900s exploration of Charles Dickens's unfinished novel "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." It carefully reviews the complex story, the connections between people in the story, and the important ideas that Dickens used in the incomplete book, concepts that have kept readers guessing. Lang looks at the characters around Edwin Drood, like Jasper, Rosa, and the opium-using Princess Puffer. He points out how love and jealousy play an important role, especially Jasper’s strong feelings for Rosa and his evil plans for Edwin. "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" tells a story of strange events leading up to Edwin's disappearance, and Lang gives different ideas about why people do what they do. He thinks about whether Drood is really dead or alive, what the engagement ring means, and what Jasper might have done. Lang's detailed study shows the many layers in Dickens's way of telling a story and thinks about how the fact that the novel was never finished makes it even more interesting. **