Man and Wife

Scottish marriage law forms the basis for the plot of Man and Wife. Apparently in the 19th century all one had to do to be married in Scotland was to claim to be married in front of witnesses, no civil or church ceremonies required. Collins spins an entertaining tale around a young woman on the brink of ruin and a chivalrous young man doing a favor for a friend who may have unwittingly tied the knot. This leads to all sorts of complications. The book’s tone and the relationship between the young lovers, Blanche and Arnold, remind me a lot of The Moonstone. Readers who loved that book should give this one a try.

This is a novel you can enjoy notwithstanding its faults. Yes, it's preachy, but preachy about two issues that no one today cares about (long-repealed Scots law and the mid-19th century fashion for 'severe muscular exertion'). There are also obvious contrivances, like the doctor who just happens to be in both Scotland and England at precisely the right times to pronounce on the health of the main character; or the all-important Last Will and Testament, which just happens to have two codicills, one signed and the other unsigned. None of this matters. It's impossible not to like Sir Patrick Lundie, or hate Lady Lundie, or enjoy watching the Bad People try to do Bad Things to the Good People.

Wilkie Collins characters come to life vividly in this story that brings the shameful treatment of wives, in the laws of England of the time, into the open. We loathe Lady Lundie, Geoffrey Delamayn, Mrs Glenarm...we love Anne Silvestre, Blanche and Arnold, Sir Patrick. Like many others before me have stated, I don't know how Dickens got all the attention he did that should have been equally shared, at least, with Collins. I'm a confirmed fan, and luckily, have some books of his still unread.

Outstanding! I love these immersive books from way back when. Wonderful characters! I really wonder what we are doing now that will seem as outlandish as these goings on in the future. Excellent narrator, though it was so suspenseful there at the end that I really wished it could be read just a tad faster! Quite the page turner. I'm grateful to have stumbled onto this at a Friends of the Library Sale.

Wilkie Collins was not only a detective novelist, he was a writer who took up the cause of social injustices, but presented them in the form, somewhat, of a suspense novel. In this novel, we are presented with the damsel in distress - because of antiquated and unbalanced marriage laws currently in effect regarding women, she finds herself "accidentlly" married to the friend of her betrothed. Collins builds the suspense, exponding on the laws of the land and how she came to be in such a position; he allows her feelings and distress to be exposed in sweet Victorian narrative; there are all the elements of a Collins mystery. A thoroughly enjoyable read if you enjoy the colorful and detailed language that flows so well as only seemed to be show more mastered in bygone eras. show less

Scottish marriage law threatens lovers and ends binding woman to seducer