... The novel is conceived as the completion
of a thematic trilogy with The Dante Club
and The Poe Shadow. Several of the
characters in The Last Dickens,
including James Osgood and J. T. Fields, also
appear in The Dante Club.
... In its original concept, Nicholas Rey
(from The Dante Club) was to appear
instead of the new character of Tom Branagan
as the concerned protector of Charles Dickens
in America.
... In an early draft of the novel, Osgood's
brother, Neddy, met Osgood and Rebecca in
London and assisted in their search.
... Rebecca Sand was originally named Rachel,
then Sarah. Rogers's original name was
Underhill, and Branagan was
originally Salisbury.
... One character from The Poe Shadow
appears in The Last Dickens under a
different name.
... The UK version of The Last Dickens
ends with an extra line not in the US edition.
... Dickens's eldest son, Charley, originally
appeared as a character in the novel.
Historically, Charley caused tension within
the family by secretly bidding for and buying
Gadshill Place.
... Secretive agents of the publishing houses
really did attempt to pilfer manuscripts in
the nineteenth century around
the harbors as do the band of
“Bookaneers” in The Last Dickens.
... In an early draft, the first elevator in
Boston, featured toward the end of the novel,
was also shown in an earlier
chapter, following Osgood to his bank. In this
deleted scene, it was shown how at this point
in the nineteenth century the
elevator operator would announce "gentlemen"
or "ladies" and men and women would take turns
filling the elevator car.
The exception was married women, who could
ride along with their husbands and the other
men. Read
the deleted scene.
... Dickens's stalker was originally an older
man. The stalker's obsession with a manuscript
of a “new” Book of Job is based on an actual
fan Dickens's encountered in St. Louis.
