April 2024: Wilkie Collins

In April, we will revisit Wilkie Collins (1824–1889).

He rarely needs introduction and we had discussed him before (the last time in February 2022: https://www.librarything.com/topic/337419 ). What do you plan to read this time around?

And what is your favorite book/story/something by him and what you think everyone should read at least once in their life? If someone had never read him, what text would you recommend as the best introduction?

>1 AnnieMod: I read The Woman in White and it was a five-star read for me. I don't ascribe 5 stars often, so I thought it a great read. The only downside was that it was 1005 pages in length! I also have Collins' Moonstone on my virtual shelf, so think I will go with that one. (507 pages) My sister recommended Poor Miss Finch to me and it is on sale currently at Audible for $4.99. Hmmm...!

Just ordered 3 Collins titles and plan on reading at least one for this month (always depending on when they arrive):
Heart and Science
Blind Love
The Evil Genius

>1 AnnieMod: Yikes - where to start? Anyone who hasn't read Collins before would probably do well with one of the "Big Three"
The Woman in White
Armadale
The Moonstone

As to favourites, that's a difficult question, but right now I think it would be Lydia Gwilt from Armadale, one of the best in a long line of Victorian villains, or villainesses as the Victorians would say.

My three ordered titles arrived today, so I'm set. What is everyone else reading.?

>2 Tess_W: Poor Miss Finch is an interesting story, being one of Collins's books on the neglect of a given section of society, his "crusading" books.

I've started reading a short story collection Mad Monkton and other Stories and so far I'm enjoying them.

I hope to read The Dead Secret, but I may not finish it this month, as I have a couple other chunksters planned for April.

Over the rest of this year I plan to continue reading at least 1 or 2 more by Collins, as I have No Name, The Law and the Lady and Man and Wife on my shelves.

>3 SassyLassy: I fully agree with you on Lydia Gwilt, she's my absolute favourite. I want to re-read No Name this month, but I also have my eyes on a few French books...

And I did finish My Lady's Money, which is a short mystery about a stolen banknote. The plot was a bit thin, and the romance unconvincing, but I loved the detective.

I’ve read The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and Armadale. Armadale was my favorite, the Woman in White a close second. I’m attending carefully to what people recommend as the Collins novel not to be missed…

Reading Armadale. my fav of his is still queen of hearts, which I reread every now and then. It always makes me smile

I have read Hide and Seek, his third novel. This is one of his less well known novels, but I thought was still a good example of his solid grasp of the essentials of a sensationalist mystery novel. The mystery essentially revolves around the identity of the father of Mary ("Madonna") Grice, a deaf and dumb child of around 10 years old, a man who abandoned Mary's mother, the young woman he had made pregnant. Different characters have different levels of knowledge about the truth of Mary's origins, so there is more mystery for most of the characters than there often is for the reader. I liked the interplay between the characters though and enjoyed this, albeit in a somewhat more low key way than Collins's greater works. The author's depiction of Mary as a disabled child who is somewhat more than just a passive figure was seemingly quite unusual for the time, and he apparently researched it quite well. A good read.

I am quite enjoying Mad Monkton and Other Stories, which is a selection of 12 mystery and ghost stories from throughout Collins' career. I am half-way through and have enjoyed each story so far. I just finished the story "The Diary of Anne Rodway" (1856), which is thought to be the first story featuring a woman who solves a crime. It was a page-turner, for sure. His writing style is clear and straight-forward, and doesn't feel as Victorian as Dickens, for example.

Hello1 I picked up A Rogue's Life recently a the friend's library sale. I might be able to squeeze this short one in before the end of the month!

>11 Christine_Taylor: I read A Rogue's Life a few years ago and enjoyed it. It has a tongue-in-cheek quality that made it a fun read.

>10 kac522: I finished Mad Monkton and Other Stories and thought it was a great collection of 12 ghost, mystery and detective stories throughout Collins' career. All of the stories (except 1, and that one was the least engaging) were written in first person, and often there is a narrative within the narrative. I think my favorites were "The Diary of Anne Rodway" (the first female "detective"), "A Terribly Strange Bed" (his first published mystery story) and "The Biter Bit" (featuring an over-confident new detective). His narrative style works perfectly in the short story format. Short stories can be hit or miss for me, but most of these were definite hits! I'm so glad my library had this older Oxford edition, as I don't know if it's still in print.

Not having enough time this month (finals at the Uni--22 essays to grade!), I went cheap and read a short story. I still have Moonstone on my TBR and hope to get to it this calendar year. However, I did manage to read Who Killed Zebedee by Wilkie Collins This was a short story focused on a stabbing death and the memory of a dying former police officer as he relates the case to the priest giving him last rites. No heavy reading here, just an enjoyable 30-45 minutes.

>14 Tess_W: "Who Killed Zebedee" was the last one in the collection I read Mad Monkton and Other Stories.

I finished The Dead Secret (1857), one of Collins' early novels with true "sensational" elements. A wealthy woman is dying; on her deathbed she writes a mysterious statement witnessed by a servant and it is the intention of the mistress that this statement should be given to her husband upon her death. She dies, survived by her husband and a 5 year old daughter. The servant, however, hides the statement in a remote room of the large manor house and vanishes the next day. Fifteen years later, the surviving daughter Rosamond, now married, is made aware of this mystery while in childbirth with her first child, and, along with her blind husband, is determined to uncover the Secret.

This was quite a page-turner, and has a lot of interesting elements, including ghosts and visions, an old decrepit house and a spiteful reclusive relative. It's clear that Collins intends the reader to have a good idea of what the "Secret" is from the beginning, and that the purpose of the story is to follow young Rosamond (headstrong and quick to react) and her loving husband (blind, reserved and thoughtful) as they slowly pursue the Secret. They work as a team uncovering each "clue" and revelation and what to follow-up next. In general I enjoyed the characters, the story and the atmosphere, and there are even some funny bits, too.

What's frustrating is that this was written for serial publication and Collins prolonged just about every scene imaginable with as much melodramatic sensibilities and for as many words as possible. I enjoyed it, but it could have been half the length and still have been a great novel.

>16 kac522: I have tried reading a few of his lately and found the melodramtic style bothersome to the point that I ended up not finishing. Half as long and twice as good

>17 cindydavid4: You might like his short stories, like in >13 kac522:. In general, the shorter ones were the better ones.

I have been reading posts about Collins work with interest having read the big 'hits' several times. The woman in white is my favourite. Inspired by members of the group I have embarked on Armadale, languishing on my bookshelf for a long time. I am a fan of the long form novels but having read readers' comments and also listened to a series of adaptations of Collins 'short' novels on BBC Radio I shall be looking for more of his shorter works. Many thanks for the recommendations.

I have started The two destinies which I find a little problematic because of the supernatural elements. I wish I had an edition with notes to explain what he was trying to do here.

>18 kac522: thats a good idea, ill do that

I had to abandon The two destinies because there was too much text missing. And I freely admit that the hero, George Germaine, gets on my nerves with his ruthless pursuit of Mary against her wishes while feeling sorry for himself for having fallen in love.

Just back after a couple of weeks away, and picked up Heart and Science last night. Also managed to buy The New Magdalen while I was away, so four new Collins books in April.

If you haven't voted, visit https://www.librarything.com/topic/360838# to vote for the Jul-Aug-Sep authors.