text: In a novel by this author, a character bursts into tears after overhearing a joke about her getting abducted by a black tam- bourine player.
full_question: In a novel by this author, a character bursts into tears after overhearing a joke about her getting abducted by a black tam- bourine player. In another novel by this author, a character drowns while fighting a schoolteacher, and earlier provides a false affidavit against a man who makes a living robbing drowned bodies. This author wrote a novel in which a character teams up with the hangman Ned Dennis to abduct two girls during an event in which both of his legs are crushed. Another of his characters marries Bella Wilfer after being fired by Mr. Boffin, and changes his last name from Harmon to Rokesmith after a body mistaken for his is found by Gaffer Hexam. One of this author's title characters has a raven that repeats the phrase "Never say die!" named Grip, and works at the Maypole Inn in a novel set largely during the Gordon Riots. For 10 points, name this author of Our Mutual Friend and Barnaby Rudge.
first_sentence: In a novel by this author, a character bursts into tears after overhearing a joke about her getting abducted by a black tam- bourine player.
raw_answer: Charles Dickens [or Charles John Huffam Dickens]