The Moonstone
by Wilkie Collins
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The Moonstone is a 19th-century novel by the master of sensation fiction, Wilkie Collins. It is considered, with The Woman in White, to be his best work, and is also commonly seen as the first English detective novel. Many of the standard ground rules for detective fiction can be found in this work, as well as examples of Collins' forward-thinking approach to the treatment of Indians and servants..
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Jannes A (fictional) tale about Collins and his friendship with Dickens. "The Moonstone" in prominently featured. Give it a try if you're into historical thrillers.
53
TineOliver Both are essentially mystery novels, although Collins is both more pioneering and, in my view better written. While the two novels were published approximately 30 years apart, both are set in the mid 19th century. Reading both books allows the reader to place the works in context of other mystery novels from the 19th century. Accordingly, I am not suggesting that just because you enjoyed one means you will enjoy the other to the same extent.
21
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
Charon07 The Moonstone was influenced by this murder investigation.
Member Reviews
Espionage, murder, romance and humour; this novel has them all.
Considered by many to be the inaugural detective novel, Wilkie Collins' nineteenth century novel 'The Moonstone' is a classic.
What's it about?
A precious gem is stolen, a curse follows the thief and three Hindus sacrifice their caste to retrieve it.
This brief précis gives the novel a certain exoticism, and it's true that India bookends the story, but really it's a whodunnit set in a country house. The main action focuses on a period of about a year and a half during which the sought-after diamond is stolen - again - from a Miss Rachel Verinder, mere hours after she receives it.
From this point, puzzles abound. Who stole it? Why won't Miss Rachel support the police show more investigation? What have the three Indians who were hanging around the house got to do with the theft?
Some of the answers initially seem obvious, but as the story develops there are several strange twists and turns that place the initial events in a very different light.
What's it like?
A little slow and repetitive in places due to the narrative structure, but there's no shortage of surprises and puzzles to keep readers intrigued, including an excellent twist half-way through.
The novel is carefully constructed from "documents", most of which are eyewitness statements commissioned by one of the key characters in the tale. Just like Collins' most famous work, 'The Woman in White', the central conceit is that each section is written by a character who is limited to telling you what they did, thought, saw and suspected at the point in the story they are writing about. This necessarily creates a little repetition at times but the narrowness of each character's vision is what contributes so effectively to the suspense.
Furthermore, some repetition is deliberate and quite helpful to the reader. Since the novel was originally serialised in Dickens' magazine 'All the Year Round' between January and August 1868, contemporary readers would have appreciated judiciously timed reminders of events which had happened in previous instalments. Reading this on an ereader meant I found it difficult to toggle between sections and so found the discreet recaps equally useful!
So has it stood the test of time?
Definitely; the aristocratic characters may have fewer real-life counterparts today, but the emotional heart of the novel rings as true as ever.
To fully appreciate this, you need to enjoy reading a lot of dialogue and accept a slow pace to the development of the mystery. The formal structure Collins adopts means the novel consists mostly of dialogue as characters explain all the key incidents to each other. This does create a certain distance and reduces the dramatic impact but is essential to create the suspense: if we had (for instance) Rosanna Spearman's account of events from Rosanna Spearman's own mouth, instead of recounted second-hand and then by letter, this would be a much shorter and far less puzzling story. Besides which, much of the enjoyment is found in the characterisation and the narrative approaches.
The narrators have very distinct voices and I particularly enjoyed the first two significant voices: Gabriel Betteredge and Miss Clack. Betteredge's narrative initially consists of a series of digressions followed by assurances of future progression of the mystery, but he's also sharply, wonderfully opinionated:
"Rosana Spearman had been a thief, and not being of the sort that get up Companies in the City, and rob from thousands, instead of only robbing from one, the law laid hold of her".
"I have myself (in spite of the bishops and the clergy) an unfeigned respect for the church"
"I can't affirm that he was on the watch for his brother officer's speedy appearance in the character of an ass - I can only say that I strongly suspected it."
"I am (thank God) constitutionally superior to reason."
If you find the above quotations from Betteredge amusing then you'll likely find this a rewarding read, and by the time Betteredge retires from his position as narrator you'll be suitably hooked by the mystery to keep reading.
The next narrator, Miss Clack, is horribly evangelical with no empathy at all, but once her hypocrisy is unveiled she is equally enjoyable in her own way, and I quickly adapted to each new speaker and their quirks.
Final thoughts
I enjoyed reading this and was suitably perplexed by the central mystery. I found the various twists and turns interesting, though you do have to be prepared to suspend disbelief about a few key points. show less
Considered by many to be the inaugural detective novel, Wilkie Collins' nineteenth century novel 'The Moonstone' is a classic.
What's it about?
A precious gem is stolen, a curse follows the thief and three Hindus sacrifice their caste to retrieve it.
This brief précis gives the novel a certain exoticism, and it's true that India bookends the story, but really it's a whodunnit set in a country house. The main action focuses on a period of about a year and a half during which the sought-after diamond is stolen - again - from a Miss Rachel Verinder, mere hours after she receives it.
From this point, puzzles abound. Who stole it? Why won't Miss Rachel support the police show more investigation? What have the three Indians who were hanging around the house got to do with the theft?
Some of the answers initially seem obvious, but as the story develops there are several strange twists and turns that place the initial events in a very different light.
What's it like?
A little slow and repetitive in places due to the narrative structure, but there's no shortage of surprises and puzzles to keep readers intrigued, including an excellent twist half-way through.
The novel is carefully constructed from "documents", most of which are eyewitness statements commissioned by one of the key characters in the tale. Just like Collins' most famous work, 'The Woman in White', the central conceit is that each section is written by a character who is limited to telling you what they did, thought, saw and suspected at the point in the story they are writing about. This necessarily creates a little repetition at times but the narrowness of each character's vision is what contributes so effectively to the suspense.
Furthermore, some repetition is deliberate and quite helpful to the reader. Since the novel was originally serialised in Dickens' magazine 'All the Year Round' between January and August 1868, contemporary readers would have appreciated judiciously timed reminders of events which had happened in previous instalments. Reading this on an ereader meant I found it difficult to toggle between sections and so found the discreet recaps equally useful!
So has it stood the test of time?
Definitely; the aristocratic characters may have fewer real-life counterparts today, but the emotional heart of the novel rings as true as ever.
To fully appreciate this, you need to enjoy reading a lot of dialogue and accept a slow pace to the development of the mystery. The formal structure Collins adopts means the novel consists mostly of dialogue as characters explain all the key incidents to each other. This does create a certain distance and reduces the dramatic impact but is essential to create the suspense: if we had (for instance) Rosanna Spearman's account of events from Rosanna Spearman's own mouth, instead of recounted second-hand and then by letter, this would be a much shorter and far less puzzling story. Besides which, much of the enjoyment is found in the characterisation and the narrative approaches.
The narrators have very distinct voices and I particularly enjoyed the first two significant voices: Gabriel Betteredge and Miss Clack. Betteredge's narrative initially consists of a series of digressions followed by assurances of future progression of the mystery, but he's also sharply, wonderfully opinionated:
"Rosana Spearman had been a thief, and not being of the sort that get up Companies in the City, and rob from thousands, instead of only robbing from one, the law laid hold of her".
"I have myself (in spite of the bishops and the clergy) an unfeigned respect for the church"
"I can't affirm that he was on the watch for his brother officer's speedy appearance in the character of an ass - I can only say that I strongly suspected it."
"I am (thank God) constitutionally superior to reason."
If you find the above quotations from Betteredge amusing then you'll likely find this a rewarding read, and by the time Betteredge retires from his position as narrator you'll be suitably hooked by the mystery to keep reading.
The next narrator, Miss Clack, is horribly evangelical with no empathy at all, but once her hypocrisy is unveiled she is equally enjoyable in her own way, and I quickly adapted to each new speaker and their quirks.
Final thoughts
I enjoyed reading this and was suitably perplexed by the central mystery. I found the various twists and turns interesting, though you do have to be prepared to suspend disbelief about a few key points. show less
The moonstone is a fabulous jewel found in India and transported to England, where it becomes the property of a young woman upon her birthday. The next morning it is gone. Who swiped it, and what happened to it? Collins was exploring new ground with this novel, revisiting some old elements from gothic fiction mixed with a new kind of detective fiction, yet he was disinclined to discard the conventions of a social novel. Doing all of this at once is quite a feat, and he needs a host of narrators to pull it off. Many of them, unfortunately, are hard to like. We get an adversary to the detective who ought to be assisting him, a religious zealot with microscopic empathy, a lawyer who assures us not one in a thousand women can be relied show more upon, a doctor whom nobody trusts at all ... but there are also some interesting and surprising facets which make them more bearable and the unravelling of the mystery drew me in, rewarding me with a couple of fun surprises.
Being an early foray into the mystery genre, the novel doesn't follow all of the usual beats. Unique to this mystery is the manner in which the detective's employers view him with suspicion. It's frustrating that because the detective is deemed lower on the social scale they hold each other above his reproach no matter the evidence he brings forth. Another unusual element is how anyone is allowed to leave the scene of the crime whenever and as soon as they please, no questions asked. Any one of them might have the jewel in their pocket, but this problem occurs to exactly nobody. A third is the novel's sheer length, which at almost five hundred pages asks more patience of mystery readers than the genre's current authors can usually expect. Collins sustains it well, however, unfurling drama among the characters that leads to their growth and change. This gives it some re-reading value that most mystery novels can't muster once you know how the mystery plays out. show less
Being an early foray into the mystery genre, the novel doesn't follow all of the usual beats. Unique to this mystery is the manner in which the detective's employers view him with suspicion. It's frustrating that because the detective is deemed lower on the social scale they hold each other above his reproach no matter the evidence he brings forth. Another unusual element is how anyone is allowed to leave the scene of the crime whenever and as soon as they please, no questions asked. Any one of them might have the jewel in their pocket, but this problem occurs to exactly nobody. A third is the novel's sheer length, which at almost five hundred pages asks more patience of mystery readers than the genre's current authors can usually expect. Collins sustains it well, however, unfurling drama among the characters that leads to their growth and change. This gives it some re-reading value that most mystery novels can't muster once you know how the mystery plays out. show less
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
★★★★
The Moonstone is a good old-fashioned whodunit. Collins uses multiple narratives to give us the story of a mysterious jewel that originated from India and was stolen a second time from an English mansion. After the diamond disappears for the second time, the mystery of the missing diamond is traced using journal entries and letters from a variety of characters including a loveable English steward obsessed with Robinson Crusoe, a religious zealot who liberally passes around “tracts” to all those around her, a wealthy cousin of the crime victim, a well-known detective on the verge of retirement, a country doctor with less than stellar ethical morals, a solicitor, and others.
The story has it show more all: bungling policemen, a sharp detective, romance, intrigue, and it is considered one of the first detective novels published in the English language (for a long time considered the first detective story). In addition to a plot with various twists and turns, Collins uses this space to make subtle commentary on social class & imperialism.
I really liked this book. It was a quick (despite being over 500 pages) and enjoyable read on the surface with some subtle elements of social commentary. I liked the multiple narratives as a way of elucidating the mystery. Several of the narratives were quite humorous and made me laugh out loud. I also was impressed by his depictions of foreign characters in the novel (considering the time when this novel was written). POSSIBLE SPOILERS*****The reader is virtually set up to form suspicious impressions of the foreign characters (e.g. Ezra Jennings) but these initial impressions generally turn out to be incorrect. I thought the epilogue was fabulous as it brought the whole story of the jewel full circle.
Favorite quote (from Betteredge of course):
“Speaking as a servant, I am deeply indebted to you. Speaking as a man, I consider you to be a person whose head is full of maggots; and I take up my testimony against your experiment as a delusion and a snare. Don’t be afraid, on that account, of my feelings as a man getting in the way of my duty as a servant! You shall be obeyed – the maggots notwithstanding, sir, you shall be obeyed. show less
★★★★
The Moonstone is a good old-fashioned whodunit. Collins uses multiple narratives to give us the story of a mysterious jewel that originated from India and was stolen a second time from an English mansion. After the diamond disappears for the second time, the mystery of the missing diamond is traced using journal entries and letters from a variety of characters including a loveable English steward obsessed with Robinson Crusoe, a religious zealot who liberally passes around “tracts” to all those around her, a wealthy cousin of the crime victim, a well-known detective on the verge of retirement, a country doctor with less than stellar ethical morals, a solicitor, and others.
The story has it show more all: bungling policemen, a sharp detective, romance, intrigue, and it is considered one of the first detective novels published in the English language (for a long time considered the first detective story). In addition to a plot with various twists and turns, Collins uses this space to make subtle commentary on social class & imperialism.
I really liked this book. It was a quick (despite being over 500 pages) and enjoyable read on the surface with some subtle elements of social commentary. I liked the multiple narratives as a way of elucidating the mystery. Several of the narratives were quite humorous and made me laugh out loud. I also was impressed by his depictions of foreign characters in the novel (considering the time when this novel was written). POSSIBLE SPOILERS*****The reader is virtually set up to form suspicious impressions of the foreign characters (e.g. Ezra Jennings) but these initial impressions generally turn out to be incorrect. I thought the epilogue was fabulous as it brought the whole story of the jewel full circle.
Favorite quote (from Betteredge of course):
“Speaking as a servant, I am deeply indebted to you. Speaking as a man, I consider you to be a person whose head is full of maggots; and I take up my testimony against your experiment as a delusion and a snare. Don’t be afraid, on that account, of my feelings as a man getting in the way of my duty as a servant! You shall be obeyed – the maggots notwithstanding, sir, you shall be obeyed. show less
Often considered the prototype for the English detective novel, The Moonstone fulfils all its promise and more. The plot is on the surface quite simple: a gemstone of great cultural significance disappears from a country house. Who has taken it? Why? Is there a connection with three itinerant Indian jugglers seen in the vicinity of the house? And why does the daughter of the house, in whose care the gemstone was, take so much umbrage at the investigation?
We are introduced to a wide range of characters who retell their part in the mystery. I reacted the most favourably to Gabriel Betteridge, the steward to the house; to Sergeant Cuff, the esteemed detective brought in to solve the mystery (but who is thwarted by both the deliberate and show more involuntary actions of others) and Ezra Jennings, a medical man with a tragic past and a dark secret. But there is also humour in the story; Betteridge and Cuff have ample reserves of wit; and another minor participant, Miss Drusilla Clack, a cousin with an obsession with evangelising and handing out religious tracts, is written in terms that only just stop short of caricature.
Some of the situations and plot twists may seem overtly melodramatic and perhaps a little contrived; but all clichés started out as something new, and for the detective story, this book is where many of those clichés had their birth. And the story betrays its original publication, as a serial in the London periodical All the Year Round, edited by Collins' friend Charles Dickens. There are shocking revelations at the end of certain chapters, and although there are no overt cliff-hangers, readers will see that they were not far behind.
Like Dickens, Collins shows us upper-class England in the mid-nineteenth century, and the observant reader will learn much about Victorian society, personal finance and attitudes. The mistress of the house from where the gem disappears, Lady Verinder, is depicted as an aristocrat of a particular type (perhaps to make the aristocracy seem less remote). I was reminded of the historian Edmund Wilson, who observed that there was never a working-class revolution in Britain because the managerial class knew when it was time to negotiate (and the trade unions put advancing the cause of their members before political objectives). To this, after reading The Moonstone, we could perhaps add that there was a segment of the British aristocracy that nonetheless recognised that they had obligations towards the people in their service; and those obligations went beyond the financial and the social into matters of respect. Not all of the upper class did this; but enough did to prevent socialist ideas penetrating too far into the rural working class in particular. (Nonetheless, one minor character looks forward to a time when "the poor will rise against the rich".)
It is worth noting here that modern readers will find matters here that could be troubling: racism, sexism and classism (not to mention the use of tobacco and other substances). The racism is mostly that of ignorance, and indeed there is a secondary character who has travelled widely in India and provides perspective, although how much of that is supposed to be from a genuine interest and how much is inserted to move the plot along is another matter. And given current debate about returning cultural treasures to their places of origin, the end of the book makes quite a contemporary point.
These points aside, The Moonstone was an engaging story, brought to life by some engaging characters, yet very clearly showing how our society has changed in some 170 years. show less
We are introduced to a wide range of characters who retell their part in the mystery. I reacted the most favourably to Gabriel Betteridge, the steward to the house; to Sergeant Cuff, the esteemed detective brought in to solve the mystery (but who is thwarted by both the deliberate and show more involuntary actions of others) and Ezra Jennings, a medical man with a tragic past and a dark secret. But there is also humour in the story; Betteridge and Cuff have ample reserves of wit; and another minor participant, Miss Drusilla Clack, a cousin with an obsession with evangelising and handing out religious tracts, is written in terms that only just stop short of caricature.
Some of the situations and plot twists may seem overtly melodramatic and perhaps a little contrived; but all clichés started out as something new, and for the detective story, this book is where many of those clichés had their birth. And the story betrays its original publication, as a serial in the London periodical All the Year Round, edited by Collins' friend Charles Dickens. There are shocking revelations at the end of certain chapters, and although there are no overt cliff-hangers, readers will see that they were not far behind.
Like Dickens, Collins shows us upper-class England in the mid-nineteenth century, and the observant reader will learn much about Victorian society, personal finance and attitudes. The mistress of the house from where the gem disappears, Lady Verinder, is depicted as an aristocrat of a particular type (perhaps to make the aristocracy seem less remote). I was reminded of the historian Edmund Wilson, who observed that there was never a working-class revolution in Britain because the managerial class knew when it was time to negotiate (and the trade unions put advancing the cause of their members before political objectives). To this, after reading The Moonstone, we could perhaps add that there was a segment of the British aristocracy that nonetheless recognised that they had obligations towards the people in their service; and those obligations went beyond the financial and the social into matters of respect. Not all of the upper class did this; but enough did to prevent socialist ideas penetrating too far into the rural working class in particular. (Nonetheless, one minor character looks forward to a time when "the poor will rise against the rich".)
It is worth noting here that modern readers will find matters here that could be troubling: racism, sexism and classism (not to mention the use of tobacco and other substances). The racism is mostly that of ignorance, and indeed there is a secondary character who has travelled widely in India and provides perspective, although how much of that is supposed to be from a genuine interest and how much is inserted to move the plot along is another matter. And given current debate about returning cultural treasures to their places of origin, the end of the book makes quite a contemporary point.
These points aside, The Moonstone was an engaging story, brought to life by some engaging characters, yet very clearly showing how our society has changed in some 170 years. show less
The Moonstone follows the eponymous gem's troubled history from its original home in a Hindu temple in India, through a series of thefts, and focuses on a final robbery after it resurfaces as a birthday present to a wealthy young British heiress. Touted as possibly the first British detective novel, it's overall a fun ride, although a few things about it keep me from giving it an A. The characters are nicely drawn, but a few of them are more irritating than I'd like to have to endure, and this is made worse by the narrative structure of the book: Collins breaks up the story into several sections, each narrated by a different member of the plot, and a couple of these characters are nearly unbearable to me. It's an impressive exercise in show more creative flawed characters and I recognize that the reader is meant to see them as comical in those flaws, but I have no patience with the kinds of flaws they're given (members of older generations thinking they're better/wiser than people younger than them just because they've lived longer, with a healthy dash of salt-of-the-earth folks are better than anyone else, and religious fanaticism; both are frustrating and not amusing to me). My other complaint is that the original theft of the moonstone is a clear act of colonialist hubris, and although I suspect that Collins is trying craft the story at least in a way as a commentary on such a thing, the Indian characters who strive to retrieve the gem are cast as wholly unsympathetic people - exotically evil - and I take a heaping pile of issue with that. Honestly, I would *love* someone to write a companion novel from the viewpoint of the Indians, who are frustrated at nearly every turn in trying to regain what's rightfully theirs by ridiculous and privileged white men, who are so desperately trying to hold on to what they've stolen. I would read the *heck* out of that novel. show less
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. 1868. Introduction by Alev Lytle Croutier. Afterword by Lilian Nayder. Signet, 2009.
Wilkie Collins must be the Rodney Dangerfield of popular Victorian novelists. You can take a pretty good course in the nineteenth-century novel and never read him. Dickens, Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope, Gaskell, and the Bronte sisters usually relegate his work to the optional reading list. And if you are doing the far ends of the century, he must also compete with Austen, Conrad, Wells, and Kipling. Nevertheless, one can make a case for The Moonstone. Even today, it is a page-turner of a who-done-it / how’d-he-do-it story. Collins borrows a lot of character technique from his buddy Charles Dickens. In fact, the character show more of Sergeant Cuff is a better detective than Dickens’ own Inspector Bucket from Bleak House. It is a better diamond-heist story than Trollope’s The Eustace Diamonds. And it looks forward to the sadly racist, very conflicted critique of English imperialism one finds in Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. Like Dickens, Collins took some chances with narrative structure. He revives the old epistolary novel form that allows him to have a slew of different storytellers, each with his or her own voice and point of view. Just so we get the idea, he has his first narrator read and reread Robinson Crusoe. Is it wrong to borrow a few chops from Charles Dickens? Nah. Otherwise, we would have to exile all those writers out there trying to be the next Stephen King or James Patterson. show less
Wilkie Collins must be the Rodney Dangerfield of popular Victorian novelists. You can take a pretty good course in the nineteenth-century novel and never read him. Dickens, Eliot, Thackeray, Trollope, Gaskell, and the Bronte sisters usually relegate his work to the optional reading list. And if you are doing the far ends of the century, he must also compete with Austen, Conrad, Wells, and Kipling. Nevertheless, one can make a case for The Moonstone. Even today, it is a page-turner of a who-done-it / how’d-he-do-it story. Collins borrows a lot of character technique from his buddy Charles Dickens. In fact, the character show more of Sergeant Cuff is a better detective than Dickens’ own Inspector Bucket from Bleak House. It is a better diamond-heist story than Trollope’s The Eustace Diamonds. And it looks forward to the sadly racist, very conflicted critique of English imperialism one finds in Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. Like Dickens, Collins took some chances with narrative structure. He revives the old epistolary novel form that allows him to have a slew of different storytellers, each with his or her own voice and point of view. Just so we get the idea, he has his first narrator read and reread Robinson Crusoe. Is it wrong to borrow a few chops from Charles Dickens? Nah. Otherwise, we would have to exile all those writers out there trying to be the next Stephen King or James Patterson. show less
This one gets the full five stars from me - I absolutely loved it. Written in 1868 and considered by many to be the first detective novel, it is amazing to me how accessible the writing is - it reads like a modern day mystery. Told in eight different narratives that are presented as written testimony, the mystery of what happened to the Moonstone slowly unfolds and kept me guessing almost to the end. I listened to the audio, which is brilliantly narrated by a full cast, and followed along in the print book. I feel like the very first character we meet totally steals the show - Gabriel Betteredge is the House-Steward for Lady Julia Verinder, and is present at the events leading up to the Moonstone going missing and the dramatic events show more that follow. He consults his favorite book, [Robinson Crusoe], for answers to life's questions:
Betteredge also catches "detective fever" when he meets the famous Sergeant Cuff, who is hired to solve the mystery of the missing diamond. He just cannot resist doing some detecting on his own. The results are delightful, and thus begins the reader's descent into solving the crime. As each new narrative adds another layer, the story takes on dimension and the little details that were shared in the beginning take on new meaning. From start to finish, this one was full of fabulous for me. If you haven't read this one yet, what on earth are you waiting for?! show less
"I am not superstitious. I have read a heap of books in my time; I am a scholar in my own way. Though turned seventy, I possess an active memory, and legs to correspond. You are not to take it, if you please, as a saying of an ignorant man, when I express my opinion that such a book as Robinson Crusoe never was written and never will be written again. I have tried that book for years generally in combination with a pipe of tobacco - I have found it my friend in need in all the necessities of this mortal life. When my spirits are bad - Robinson Crusoe. When I want advice - Robinson Crusoe. In past times when my wife plagued me; in present times when I have had a drop too much - Robinson Crusoe. I have worn out six stout Robinson Crusoes with hard work in my service. On my lady's last birthday she gave me a seventh. I took a drop too much on the strength of it; and Robinson Crusoe put me right again. Price four shillings and sixpence, bound in blue, with a picture in the bargain."
Betteredge also catches "detective fever" when he meets the famous Sergeant Cuff, who is hired to solve the mystery of the missing diamond. He just cannot resist doing some detecting on his own. The results are delightful, and thus begins the reader's descent into solving the crime. As each new narrative adds another layer, the story takes on dimension and the little details that were shared in the beginning take on new meaning. From start to finish, this one was full of fabulous for me. If you haven't read this one yet, what on earth are you waiting for?! show less
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Moonstone - new LE 2nd November 2023 in Folio Society Devotees (October 2024)
Author Information
398+ Works 39,924 Members
Wilkie Collins was born in London, England on January 8, 1824. He worked first in business and then law, but eventually turned to literature. During his lifetime, he wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, at least 14 plays, and more than 100 non-fiction pieces. His works include Antonia, The Woman in White, The Moonstone, The Haunted Hotel, show more and Heart and Science. He was a close friend of Charles Dickens and collaborated with him. He died on September 23, 1889. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Põnevik (3)
Crime de la Crime (Arbeiderspers)
Penguin English Library, 2012 series (2012-04)
Penguin Audiobooks (PEN 90)
Oneworld Classics (11)
Библиотека приключений (I, 20)
Amstelboeken (72-73)
Florin Books (39)
Doubleday Dolphin (C35)
Collins Classics (456)
Club del Misterio. Bruguera (70,71)
Arion Press (95)
Airmont Classics (76)
Corticelli [Mursia] (190)
The World's Classics (316)
Fischer Taschenbuch (10478)
dtv (12182)
Everyman's Library (979)
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Has the (non-series) sequel
Has the adaptation
Is abridged in
Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Moonstone
- Original title
- The Moonstone
- Alternate titles*
- Der Mondstein
- Original publication date
- 1868
- People/Characters
- Rachel Verinder; Sergeant Cuff; Franklin Blake; Godfrey Ablewhite; Drusilla Clack; Ezra Jennings (show all 13); Gabriel Betteredge; Rosanna Spearman; Lady Verinder; Thomas Candy; Mr Murthwaite; Mr Bruff; Penelope Betteredge
- Important places
- England, UK; India; Yorkshire, England, UK; London, England, UK
- Related movies
- The Moonstone (1972 | IMDb); The Moonstone (1996 | IMDb); The Moonstone (1934 | IMDb); The Moonstone (1915 | IMDb); The Moonstone (1959 | IMDb)
- Dedication
- IN MEMORIAM MATRIS
- First words
- In the first part of Robinson Crusoe, at page one hundred and twenty-nine, you will find it thus written: 'Now I saw, though too late, The Folly of beginning a Work before we count the Cost, and before we judge rightly... (show all) of our own Strength to go through with it.'
Intending praise, T. S. Eliot slung an albatross around the neck of The Moonstone with his encomium: 'the first and best of detective novels.' (Introduction)
In some of my former novels, the object proposed has been to trace the influence of circumstances upon character. (Preface)
The circumstances under which The Moonstone was originally written have invested the book - in the author's mind - with an interest peculiarly its own. (Preface to a New Edition)
I address these lines - written in India - to my relatives in England. (Prologue)
On the twenty-seventh of June last, I received instructions from Sergeant Cuff to follow three men; suspected of murder, and described as Indians. (Epilogue) - Quotations
- We are all of us more or less unwilling to be brought into the world. And we are all of us right.
It is one of my rules in life, never to notice what I don't understand. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)What will be the next adventure of the Moonstone? Who can tell? (Epilogue)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But, above all, it is a novel to enjoy and one envies future readers the pleasure of coming to its thrills and surprises for the first time. (Introduction)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The famous Koh-i-Noor is also supposed to have been one of the sacred jems of India; and, more than this, to have been the subject of a prediction, which prophesied certain misfortune to the persons who should divert it from its ancient uses. (Preface)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)All that I can do towards making the book worthy of the reader's continued approval has now been done. (Preface to a New Edition)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I am not only persuaded of Herncastle's guilt; I am even fanciful enough to believe that he will live to regret it, if he keeps the Diamond; and that others will live to regret taking it from him, if he gives the Diamond away. (Prologue)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Ladies and Gentlemen, I make my bow, and shut up the story. - Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.8
- Canonical LCC
- PR4494.M62
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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