Pudd'nhead Wilson
Mark Twain · 1835–1910 · USA
Why it matters
A slave and her master's son, switched in the cradle, grow up into each other's lives in antebellum Missouri, until a small-town lawyer's fingerprint hobby unravels everything. Twain's bitterest late satire indicts slavery through farce that turns to courtroom tragedy.
At a glance
satirecrime & noirtragedy
Difficulty 5/10fast pace200 pagesA tonal swerve from broad comedy to grim racial tragedy complicates an otherwise brisk plot.
Where to go next
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Mark Twain · 1889A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtLvl 5Fast paced
Charles Dickens · 1861Great ExpectationsLvl 4Medium pace