No Name (1862)

by Wilkie Collins

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English (12) French (1) Spanish (1) All languages (14)

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Showing 1-5 of 12 (next | show all)

When Magdalen and Norah's parents die in rapid succession, the Vanstone daughters suddednly discover that they were born out of wedlock, and left virtually penniless.

Restoring herself and her sister to therir rightful place is Magdalen's one passionate desire. The relentless pursuit of her object may cost her dearly.

What an excellent book! This is my favorite work of Collins that I've read to date. (

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bookwoman247 | May 9, 2013 |

It took me a while to get into this book, but the story picked up pace at about the 200 page mark and from that point onwards I was fairly well hooked. There were the usual outrageous coincidences which would be so frowned upon in novels written today, but it was good to read a Victorian novel with such a strong and resourceful female protagonist. Wilkie Collins hasn't got the 'brand awareness' of Dickens, but I think he was much more sympathetic to women. (

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AJBraithwaite | Mar 31, 2013 |

I heartily recommend this book to fans of Wilkie Collins! I really enjoyed it even though it wasn't quite as good as The Woman in White or The Moonstone. I think the dénouement could have been more dramatic, but I see why Collins ended the book the way he did. (

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kathleen586 | Mar 30, 2013 |

This 1862 novel has interesting events powered by the law as it existed in 1846 in Britain, where bastards had no inheritance rights unless conferred by will. This leads to two fine young women being deprived of an part in their father's ample estate. One of the girls proceeds to try to get this money by marrying the guy who has it. This sets up a tortuous path as she strives to get the money, full of twists and turns and holding the reader, if a little incredulous o the liklihood of the events, reading on until the very last page. It is fun to think of what this novel does not tell and which a modern novel would tell. For instance, not a word of the sex lives of the couple after the woman, who despises the man, succeeds in marrying him. The story goes on and on, with some things inducing incredulity, and while not as good as the best Dickens novels, does have events which make one eager to see what happens. Actually, a lot better than some modern fiction (

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Schmerguls | Oct 4, 2012 |

Magdalen and Norah Vanstone’s story (which cannot really be discussed without spoilers, i.e., don’t read the back cover) left me less satisfied than usual with Mr. Wilkie Collins, but there is no denying that No Name (first published 1862) was a page-turning, suspenseful book. As with other Wilkie Collins novels, there are mistaken identities, disguises, tricks on both the good and bad, memorable characters, and opportune deaths. I couldn’t wait to see how it was all resolved. More with spoilers

rebeccareid | Jul 19, 2011 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Wilkie Collins	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Blain, Virginia	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Is contained in

Four Mysteries by Wilkie Collins (Armadale, The Moonstone, No Name, The Woman in White) by Wilkie Collins

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Series (with order)

Canonical title

No Name

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1862

People/Characters

Magdalen Vanstone

Norah Vanstone

Captain Horatio Wragge

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

To Francis Carr Beard,
(Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England)
in remembrance of the time
when the closing scenes of this story were written.

First words

The hands on the hall-clock pointed to half-past six in the morning.

Quotations

He produced ... five or six plump little books, bound in commercial calf and vellum, and each fitted comfortably with its own little lock. ... "Here is my commercial library: -- Day Book, Ledger, Book of Districts, Book of Letters, Book of Remarks, and so on. ... I consult my Books for the customary references to past local experience; I find under the heading, "Personal position in York," the initials, T. W. K. signifying Too Well Known. I refer to my Index, and turn to the surrounding neighbourhood. The same brief remarks meet my eye. "Leeds. T. W. K. - Scarborough. T. W.K. - Harrogate. T. W. K." - and so on.

His dingy white collar and cravat had died the death of old linen, and had gone to their long home at the paper-maker's, to live again one day in quires at a stationer's shop.

... the production of a visible excuse for wearing her veil. She
deliberately disfigured herself by artificially reddening the insides of her
eyelids, so as to produce an appearance of inflammation which no human
creature but a doctor - and that doctor at close quarters - could have
detected as false.

Last words

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Disambiguation notice

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 019283388X, Paperback)

Condemned by Victorian critics as immoral, but regarded today as a novel of outstanding social insight, No Name shows William Wilkie Collins at the height of his literary powers. It is the story of two sisters, Magdalen and Norah, who discover after the deaths of their dearly beloved parents that their parents were not married at the time of their births. Disinherited and ousted from their estate, they must fend for themselves and either resign themselves to their fate or determine to recover their wealth by whatever means.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:19:32 -0500)

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▾Library descriptions

Magdalen Vanstone and her sister Norah learn the true meaning of social stigma in Victorian England only after the traumatic discovery that their dearly loved parents, whose sudden deaths have left them orphans, were not married at the time of their birth. Disinherited by law and brutally ousted from Combe-Raven, the idyllic country estate which has been their peaceful home since childhood, the two young women are left to fend for themselves. While the submissive Norah follows a path of duty and hardship as a governess, her high-spirited and rebellious younger sister has made other decisions. Determined to regain her rightful inheritance at any cost, Magdalen uses her unconventional beauty and dramatic talent in recklessly pursuing her revenge. Aided by the audacious swindler Captain Wragge, she braves a series of trials leading up to the climactic test: can she trade herself in marriage to the man she loathes?Written in the early 1860s, between The Woman in White and The Moonstone, No Name was rejected as immoral by critics of its time, but is today regarded as a novel of outstanding social insight, showing Collins at the height of his powers.… (more)

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