Archiv der Kategorie: Classics of Fiction (English)

The Guilty River – Wilkie Collins

Gerard Roylake, returning from the continent to England to receive his in heritance, finds that one of his tenants a miller in the old mill on the banks of that dark, gloomy, repellant river, the Loke, has a lodger and a fair daughter. The lodger is a strange man, remarkably handsome, deaf, and an odd combination of knave and tool, the former characteristic predominating. It is from these picturesque elements, that Mr. Collins evolves his tragedy. The details of mystery are worked up in the author s skillful way. The denouement is a surprise. The question of heredity is finely handled.

The Guilty River.

Format: eBook.

The Guilty River.

ISBN: 9783849658489

Excerpt from … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Evil Genius – Wilkie Collins

Whether society should recognize a couple who, after being divorced, become reconciled, agree to forget their past difficulties and re-marry, is the question Mr. Collins tries to solve. The “evil genius “who makes all the mischief is the mother-in-law, who feels it is her duty to open her daughter’s eyes to her husband’s admiration for the governess. The governess’ history takes up a good space in the opening chapters, and is full of interest. Her father is tried and found guilty of deliberately causing the loss of his ship in order to gain possession of a large package of diamonds. The trial, the unsuccessful attempt to find the stolen diamonds, the girl’s helpless condition, … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

I Say No – Wilkie Collins

The popularity of Wilkie Collins is as unquestionable as his mannerism, and when this story bears the title ‘I Say No’, it is characteristic of him that the meaning of this title is not made clear until three fourths of the novel has been read. The plot is, as usual, very carefully and strongly conceived, and the reader is allowed to think that he has the clue to the secret at an early period, whereas the secret is really quite different from what seems most probable. The general effect of ‘I Say No’ is much less sensational than many of the author’s former stories. The situations are not void of theatrical tone, but they … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Heart and Science – Wilkie Collins

Mr. Wilkie Collins has here presented us with a ‘novel with a purpose’, and yet he has sacrificed none of his freedom and adroit resource of treatment. He has evidently, as he claims in the preface, devoted far more time and care to the study of character than in some former cases; but he is as ingenious as ever in managing his plot, in working one incident into another, and surprising us with developments which nevertheless have been well prepared for. His psychology in this case is closer and more realistic than we remember aforetime; though perhaps a certain section of the medical profession may feel a call to fight hard with him over … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Black Robe – Wilkie Collins

‘The Black Robe’ combines some aim at psychological analysis with great inventiveness. Mr. Wilkie Collins never writes carelessly; and in this instance he has been especially careful. The great point of the piece is the peculiar mental haunting by a voice of one Romagne, who has killed a man in a duel; and a secondary interest, which is admirably worked out, is the contest between the Church of Rome, as embodied in the person of Father Benwell and Mr. Penrose, and love, as embodied in the person of a Miss Eyrecourt. It is necessary to say that Romagne, in the course of time, has become a man of considerable property, else he could not … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Jezebel’s Daughter – Wilkie Collins

The novel revolves around two totally different ladies, both of which happen to be widows. In England, we have Mrs. Wagner, who wants to run the business of her deceased husband and hire more women; she has a philanthropic vein and takes Jack Straw from the Bedlam asylum right into her own house. Then we have Madame Fontaine, whose husband was a scientist and an expert on toxins. She has had monetary problems since the death of Mr. Fontaine, and gets very excited, when her daughter Minna starts to date Fritz Keller, the son of Mrs. Wagner’s business partner …

Jezebel’s Daughter.

Format: eBook.

Jezebel’s Daughter.

ISBN: 9783849658434

Excerpt from the text:

At the … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

My Lady’s Money – Wilkie Collins

“In relation to the purely literary side of the question,” as Mr. Wilkie Collins says, there can be no doubt that his studies of character in ‘My Lady’s Money’ do seem to be drawn from nature. The story is constructed with his accustomed skill, the details fit together as usual with the precision of the facts in a criminal trial.

My Lady’s Money.

Format: eBook.

My Lady’s Money.

ISBN: 9783849658427

Excerpt from the text:

“MY nephew!” Lady Lydiard exclaimed in a tone which expressed astonishment, but certainly not pleasure as well. “How many years is it since you and I last met?” she asked, in her abruptly straightforward way, as Mr. Felix Sweetsir … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Fallen Leaves – Wilkie Collins

In ‘Fallen Leaves’, Mr. Wilkie Collins has touched on some very difficult problems, and has done it with delicacy. Though the main interest of the story does not lie in the plot, but rather in the characters and in the novel situations he has found, yet there is a sense of consistency and completeness, which draws from the reader as he proceeds the keenest interest, in spite of an occasional touch of melodrama, which Mr. Wilkie Collins finds it very difficult to leave behind him. Amelius Goldenheart, the representative of an old English family, has been educated at a socialist institution in America ; and having fallen under a misconstruction, is glad to make … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Haunted Hotel – Wilkie Collins

‘The Haunted Hotel’ is a story which, like others of Mr. Wilkie Collins’s stories, fascinates the reader, and compels him to finish it at a sitting. It has, too, this merit, that as the story progresses one is forced to recall the facts of the earlier part, and see the object for which they were related and the bearing they have upon subsequent events. It is often possible to put together a mass of intricate details none of which is irrelevant, but it is a rare skill which can make it plain to a reader reading at full speed that they all had their necessity and proper effect. Few writers can do this so … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

The Two Destinies – Wilkie Collins

The story of two people who begin to love each other as boy and girl. Some mysterious agency seems to be at work, all through the story, in their behalf; for though apparently separated as children forever, they are brought together again by a most singular chain of circumstances. Apparitions and other strange hallucinations abound in the work. Altogether a pleasantly weird and odd story, and very much different from Wilkie Collins’ other novels.

The Two Destinies.

Format: eBook.

The Two Destinies.

ISBN: 9783849658397

Excerpt from the text:

MANY years have passed since my wife and I left the United States to pay our first visit to England.

We were provided with letters … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...