Barnaby Rudge
by Charles Dickens
Set in the background of the Gordon riots of 1780, Barnaby Rudge is a mystery and suspense story that begins with an unsolved double murder and continues to include conspiracy, blackmail, kidnapping, and revenge. Throughout the novel, fathers and sons become rivals, apprentices cooperate against their masters, and Protestants encounter Catholics in the streets. And when the London rebellion breaks out, Barnaby Rudge himself struggles to avoid the curse of his own past. With his dramatic depictions, strange secrets, and ghostly doubling down on public violence and private fear, Barnaby Rudge is a powerful, disturbing blend of historical realism and Gothic melodrama.
