It was one of my 50-cent library discard airplane reading books. Picked it up mostly because a smart friend with good taste loves Dickens. I still avoided it for a long time. Finally took it on the plane and finished it a day or two later. I can't believe the dude's skill. He wrote this for serial publication, i.e. keeping to a strict deadline for each chapter. Good characterization, plausible motives, a morsel of mystery, and of course lots of plot. A somewhat too-obvious theme (though the introductory essay by Robert Donald Spector argues for a more nuanced message). I can't believe Dickens published this book that is so down on monogamy with a poorly suited partner, knowing his wife would read it ... but then again, he reportedly took no pains to hide his mistress either.
It was fascinating that the day after I finished the most persuasive pro-divorce chapter of this book, I had a most inspiring conversation with a faithful Protestant colleague who was remaining faithful to (as he phrased it) "the woman I covenanted with before God," even though she had recently divorced him. He was living the advice of Ephesians 5:25.
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