On this episode, Shari and Rhea wrap up their discussion of David Copperfield. They explore all the side stories and whether they were so much of “side stories” after all. They compare mother - child relationships, notice the many subtle—and not so subtle—Biblical connections, and recognize all the ways Dickens is plain old havin’ fun in this section: the theatrics, dramatic monologues, romanticism, stark contrasts of good and evil, and… the over-the-topness of Mr. Micawber’s speechifying. Oiy!! They also ask themselves who is the real hero of David’s story? And… do they still wonder if they made a mistake reading David Copperfield and Demon Copperhead back-to-back? This, and a lot more!

We’d love to hear from you! What do you think of the episodes? What would you like to hear more about when we discuss each story? Have any questions? What do you think of our assessments of characters and their motives? You can message us through the Reader & the The Writer, or through each of our personal Substack accounts: Shari Dragovich, or Rhea Forney.

Looking ahead to our next reads:

Summertime Reads:

• North Woodsby Daniel Mason;

First episode dropping June 18th; “One” up to but not including “Letters to E.N.” (pp. 5-127); Episode 2: pp. 131-239; Episode 3: pp. 243-369 (end)

• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Back to School YA Slam:

• The Wednesday Warsby Gary Schmidt

• Everything Sad is Untrueby Daniel Nayari

• You Bring the Distant Nearby Mitali Perkins (Note: Shari misspoke when she named this title in the podcast… oops!)

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