Although a good read in that the characters were well drawn and the pace is good, it is really difficult to reconcile oneself to the plot. The fate of the sisters by the end of the book is totally unjust, as the passive and resigned sister is given all the good fortune and the artistic and rightfully angry sister is given all the punishment. Collins is basically saying that a woman's resourcefulness, ambitition and rightful indignation against injustice is a moral failing. ( )

This is one of the lesser-known of Collins' novels, which surprises me, as this is a cracking good read in the best 'sensation novel' tradition.

Sisters Magdalen and Norah Vanstone live an idyllic life with loving parents until tragedy strikes. Their father's death is followed quickly by the death of their mother. Not only are the sisters left orphans, but - because their parents weren't actually married when the girls were born - they are not entitled to inherit any of their parents' money or possessions. The entire fortune goes to their uncle, who has had no contact with his brother for years and has no love for his nieces.

Norah takes this change in her circumstances philosophically, resigned to finding work as a governess. But Magdalen cannot accept her situation. A very active and independent heroine, she sets out to exact her revenge. When she discovers that her uncle is dead, she turns her attentions to his sickly, miserly son. Magdalen is aided in her plans by Captain Wragge, a distant relation. He is a self-confessed swindler, and is a great comic character - quite as memorable as many of Dickens' grotesques, but he is also likeable because, whatever his other faults, he has a strong streak of humanity running through him.

It is difficult for a modern reader to disapprove of Magdalen too much, even though what she sets out to do is questionable in the extreme. Collins shows us how her character grows, and her humanity it shown in her fondness and consideration for Captain Wragge's tall, nervous wife. The other memorable character is Mrs Lecount, the possessive housekeeper of Noel Vanstone, the man who inherits the money Magdalen believes is rightfully hers. One of the great joys of the novels is the cat-and-mouse plotting and counter-plotting that goes on between Wragge and Lecount, each trying to keep one step ahead of the other.

[May 2008] ( )

Wilkie Collin's No Name is an exploration of the Victorian world from the vantagepoint of two sisters who suddenly find themselves illegitimate upon the death of their parents. Andrew Vanstone has been tricked into a foolish marriage early in life, and fled from his mercenary wife into drunkenness and despair. It was in this situation that he met another woman, who agreed to live as his wife despite his legal wife still living. The Vanstones retired to a quiet country life to live on Andrew's capacious fortune inherited from his father, and two daughters, Norah and Magdalen, were born. The story picks up when Magdalen is 19 and just discovering her astonishing dramatic abilities. When Andrew Vanstone receives word that his legal wife has died, he and the mother of his children go to town to procure a wedding license. Unknown to him, this marriage nullifies his previous will and leaves everything to his wife. Unfortunately, Mr. Vanstone is killed in a railway crash the next week and Mrs. Vanstone (already in delicate health) is prostrated by the blow. She dies a day later, and since she had not made a will in favor of her daughters, the entire estate was handed to the next-of-kin, Andrew's estranged brother Michael. Michael Vanstone categorically refuses to help Norah and Magdalen, and the girls are thrown upon their own resources. Norah chooses to work as a governess, humbly accepting her fate. But Magdalen, dramatic and fiery Magdalen, wants revenge... and she'll stop at nothing to get it.

I enjoyed the middle part of this novel the most. Collins spends a good deal of time on his almost Dickensian characters of Horatio Wragge, an obsessive-compulsive schemer and "moral agriculturist," and Mrs. Wragge, his unfortunate, weak-minded wife. Though Captain Wragge is, as he avows himself, a "Rogue," one can't help but like him. The other characters, Mrs. Lecount and Mr. Noel Vanstone, are also admirably drawn. All of these characters are played against one another in the middle part of the story where the tension lies, and it is masterfully done.

I did find the last few hundred pages rather slow and anti-climactic, and the ever-present coincidence that ensures a happy ending seemed more than usually contrived in this case. It's a pity we could not see more of Captain Kirke than we do.

The edition I have is a photographic reprint of the 1864 version, so it has the old-looking font that's a bit difficult to read. But I found that as I kept reading it got easier, and it was rather fun to be reading exactly what someone in 1864 would have read. Overall, an enjoyable Victorian novel of interest mostly to fans of the genre. ( )