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Basil
The Definitive Edition of BASIL
-Illustrations from the first illustrated edition
-Complete, unabridged, and formatted for kindle to improve your reading experience
-Linked table of contents to reach your chapter quickly
“Basil, a man of high station, falls in love with Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, and the year following their secret marriage is fraught with dramatic conflict. This psychologically penetrating story of love and loss is recognized today as one of, if not the, first sensation novels of the nineteenth century.” J Eddy
“Basil tells the story of a secret and unconsummated marriage, between the aristocratic Basil and Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, kept secret for one year. Basil struggles between the social pressures of his class, embodied in the character of his proud and honourable father, and his passion for Margaret.” The Thiessen Review
“The elements which would become central to the age of sensation in the 1860s are all there – familial strife and secrets, violence, mental anguish with an almost proto-Freudian obsession with dreams and the subconscious and a focus on the destructive potential of female sexuality.” The Secret Victorianist
“This was one of those books that sent my emotions reeling ~ the kind where I ran my fingers through my hair over and again in frustration, screaming, "NO!!!!" in my mind, pacing with anxiety and watching helplessly as the character is buffeted by winds he cannot control, albeit a result of a few misplaced efforts. Read it to the end.” Heidi
“The more of Wilkie Collins I read the more I think I like him as much as I do his friend Charles Dickens” Richard
BASIL features Wilkie Collin’s sensational novel in a specially designed edition for kindle. This suspenseful novel will shock and delight you. Read it as it’s meant to be read: complete, and unabridged with the original illustrations.
-Illustrations from the first illustrated edition
-Complete, unabridged, and formatted for kindle to improve your reading experience
-Linked table of contents to reach your chapter quickly
“Basil, a man of high station, falls in love with Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, and the year following their secret marriage is fraught with dramatic conflict. This psychologically penetrating story of love and loss is recognized today as one of, if not the, first sensation novels of the nineteenth century.” J Eddy
“Basil tells the story of a secret and unconsummated marriage, between the aristocratic Basil and Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, kept secret for one year. Basil struggles between the social pressures of his class, embodied in the character of his proud and honourable father, and his passion for Margaret.” The Thiessen Review
“The elements which would become central to the age of sensation in the 1860s are all there – familial strife and secrets, violence, mental anguish with an almost proto-Freudian obsession with dreams and the subconscious and a focus on the destructive potential of female sexuality.” The Secret Victorianist
“This was one of those books that sent my emotions reeling ~ the kind where I ran my fingers through my hair over and again in frustration, screaming, "NO!!!!" in my mind, pacing with anxiety and watching helplessly as the character is buffeted by winds he cannot control, albeit a result of a few misplaced efforts. Read it to the end.” Heidi
“The more of Wilkie Collins I read the more I think I like him as much as I do his friend Charles Dickens” Richard
BASIL features Wilkie Collin’s sensational novel in a specially designed edition for kindle. This suspenseful novel will shock and delight you. Read it as it’s meant to be read: complete, and unabridged with the original illustrations.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1852
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3096 people want to read
About the author
Wilkie Collins
2,360 books2,932 followersWilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright, best known for The Woman in White (1860), an early sensation novel, and The Moonstone (1868), a pioneering work of detective fiction. Born to landscape painter William Collins and Harriet Geddes, he spent part of his childhood in Italy and France, learning both languages. Initially working as a tea merchant, he later studied law, though he never practiced. His literary career began with Antonina (1850), and a meeting with Charles Dickens in 1851 proved pivotal. The two became close friends and collaborators, with Collins contributing to Dickens' journals and co-writing dramatic works.
Collins' success peaked in the 1860s with novels that combined suspense with social critique, including No Name (1862), Armadale (1864), and The Moonstone, which established key elements of the modern detective story. His personal life was unconventional—he openly opposed marriage and lived with Caroline Graves and her daughter for much of his life, while also maintaining a separate relationship with Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.
Plagued by gout, Collins became addicted to laudanum, which affected both his health and later works. Despite declining quality in his writing, he remained a respected figure, mentoring younger authors and advocating for writers' rights. He died in 1889 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. His legacy endures through his influential novels, which laid the groundwork for both sensation fiction and detective literature.
Collins' success peaked in the 1860s with novels that combined suspense with social critique, including No Name (1862), Armadale (1864), and The Moonstone, which established key elements of the modern detective story. His personal life was unconventional—he openly opposed marriage and lived with Caroline Graves and her daughter for much of his life, while also maintaining a separate relationship with Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.
Plagued by gout, Collins became addicted to laudanum, which affected both his health and later works. Despite declining quality in his writing, he remained a respected figure, mentoring younger authors and advocating for writers' rights. He died in 1889 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. His legacy endures through his influential novels, which laid the groundwork for both sensation fiction and detective literature.
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December 28, 2014
I am now about to relate the story of an error, innocent in its beginning, guilty in its progress, fatal in its results …
All hail serendipity! I did not know of the existence of Wilkie Collins’s novel Basil until a few days ago, when I finished reading William Godwin’s Caleb Williams, and saw Collins’s novel cited as analogous to Godwin’s in respect of its subject matter. That prompted me to follow it up, and I’m very glad I did.
The only works by Wilkie Collins I had read before are his great novels of the 1860s: The Woman in White, Armadale, No Name, and The Moonstone, all superb. Basil is early—it dates from 1852—and I can’t say it is as good as the later works. You can see all the same elements here, but they haven’t yet shaken down and resolved themselves into a harmonious composite; there is something jarring and excessive about this piece. On the other hand, I found Basil intriguing precisely on account of its unresolved quality. There’s something wild and weird about it that appealed to me, despite its flaws.
One thing I like very much about Collins’s later novels is his way with women characters, whom I find far superior to those of his mate Dickens. I found Basil disappointing in this regard. The two main female characters here, Basil’s angelic, desexualized sister Clara and his more equivocal love interest Margaret, are fairly stereotypical and stereotypically treated, even down to their contrasted colouring—Clara the pale and blushing English rose, Margaret ominously foreign in her dark and sultry looks. Enough already! Much more interesting, in terms of gender, is Collins’s experimentation with a male protagonist at the extreme of femininity. If you were to total up Basil’s and Clara’s various moments of paleness, faintness, and general vapourousness throughout the novel, it would be a very close call.
What I found mainly appealing in Basil is its odd combination of realism and social observation with a much stranger, Romantic and Gothic streak. This mixture is all the more striking because the Gothic emerges out of the realist and prosaic; we spend the first half of the novel in an entirely different world to that of the second. The first is a novel of social observation, set in an intriguingly transitional London, where ancient landed aristocratic families pursue their elegant lives in select squares, while nouveau riche tradesmen throw up flashy villas on the outskirts of the city, and dangerous novelties such as horsedrawn omnibuses bring the different strata of society into fatal juxtaposition. The second half of the novel, increasingly melodramatic, jolts us into a world of full-on romanticism, complete with dream-visions, foul fiends, fated revenge pursuits (the thematic tie-up with Caleb Williams), and numerous bouts of madness, illness, and violence. It’s all a bit chaotic and feverish, but no one could accuse it of being predictable. And since the novel’s shift in tone coincides with a catastrophe in the life of the protagonist, and we are seeing his life through his eyes, it can perhaps lay claim to a certain psychological realism.
Basil is sometimes described as the first Victorian ‘sensation novel’, as I have discovered reading up on it since I finished the novel (there’s a very good 2000 article available free online, http://wilkiecollinssociety.org/resur..., and I also looked at the 2013 The Cambridge Companion to Sensation Fiction). I hadn’t really registered the sensation novel as a phenomenon before, but it seems useful as a way of making sense of the transition between Romanticism and the mature traditions of Victorian fiction. Perhaps that is ultimately what I like about this early example of the genre. You can see literary history here in the making, and with something still rather molten in the mix.
All hail serendipity! I did not know of the existence of Wilkie Collins’s novel Basil until a few days ago, when I finished reading William Godwin’s Caleb Williams, and saw Collins’s novel cited as analogous to Godwin’s in respect of its subject matter. That prompted me to follow it up, and I’m very glad I did.
The only works by Wilkie Collins I had read before are his great novels of the 1860s: The Woman in White, Armadale, No Name, and The Moonstone, all superb. Basil is early—it dates from 1852—and I can’t say it is as good as the later works. You can see all the same elements here, but they haven’t yet shaken down and resolved themselves into a harmonious composite; there is something jarring and excessive about this piece. On the other hand, I found Basil intriguing precisely on account of its unresolved quality. There’s something wild and weird about it that appealed to me, despite its flaws.
One thing I like very much about Collins’s later novels is his way with women characters, whom I find far superior to those of his mate Dickens. I found Basil disappointing in this regard. The two main female characters here, Basil’s angelic, desexualized sister Clara and his more equivocal love interest Margaret, are fairly stereotypical and stereotypically treated, even down to their contrasted colouring—Clara the pale and blushing English rose, Margaret ominously foreign in her dark and sultry looks. Enough already! Much more interesting, in terms of gender, is Collins’s experimentation with a male protagonist at the extreme of femininity. If you were to total up Basil’s and Clara’s various moments of paleness, faintness, and general vapourousness throughout the novel, it would be a very close call.
What I found mainly appealing in Basil is its odd combination of realism and social observation with a much stranger, Romantic and Gothic streak. This mixture is all the more striking because the Gothic emerges out of the realist and prosaic; we spend the first half of the novel in an entirely different world to that of the second. The first is a novel of social observation, set in an intriguingly transitional London, where ancient landed aristocratic families pursue their elegant lives in select squares, while nouveau riche tradesmen throw up flashy villas on the outskirts of the city, and dangerous novelties such as horsedrawn omnibuses bring the different strata of society into fatal juxtaposition. The second half of the novel, increasingly melodramatic, jolts us into a world of full-on romanticism, complete with dream-visions, foul fiends, fated revenge pursuits (the thematic tie-up with Caleb Williams), and numerous bouts of madness, illness, and violence. It’s all a bit chaotic and feverish, but no one could accuse it of being predictable. And since the novel’s shift in tone coincides with a catastrophe in the life of the protagonist, and we are seeing his life through his eyes, it can perhaps lay claim to a certain psychological realism.
Basil is sometimes described as the first Victorian ‘sensation novel’, as I have discovered reading up on it since I finished the novel (there’s a very good 2000 article available free online, http://wilkiecollinssociety.org/resur..., and I also looked at the 2013 The Cambridge Companion to Sensation Fiction). I hadn’t really registered the sensation novel as a phenomenon before, but it seems useful as a way of making sense of the transition between Romanticism and the mature traditions of Victorian fiction. Perhaps that is ultimately what I like about this early example of the genre. You can see literary history here in the making, and with something still rather molten in the mix.
October 8, 2017
4.5
There is something I love about a Wilkie Collins novel. I think it is the way he builds the mystery and suspense without any overtly horrible occurrences. I thought Basil rather soft-headed and unsympathetic in the beginning, but as the story progressed, I began to feel real concern for this young man pretty much trapped in a mess of his own making. I decided early on that the father was not going to be as unforgiving as the son believed, but Wilkie Collins’ characters seldom do what we think they will do (which is part of the enjoyment of reading him), and I found the father as exasperating as the sister was kind.
The story depends very heavily on chance and fate to draw these tragedy-bound characters into one another’s spheres. When you have accepted that element, you must concede that anyone would be as foolish and headstrong as Basil over a woman he can’t even say he barely knows (as he does not know her in the least when he decides he is completely in love and must have her and no other). But, Collins handles this deftly and I totally believed the circumstances that ensued after the chance encounter of Basil and Margaret on an omnibus. The lesson here must surely be “never take public transportation if you can afford a private cab.”
I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this, but I am very pleased I put it on my challenge this year. I loved Woman in White and the Moonstone, so Basil is proof for me, if needed, that I should attempt to read everything in Collins’ canon. Next up: No Name.
There is something I love about a Wilkie Collins novel. I think it is the way he builds the mystery and suspense without any overtly horrible occurrences. I thought Basil rather soft-headed and unsympathetic in the beginning, but as the story progressed, I began to feel real concern for this young man pretty much trapped in a mess of his own making. I decided early on that the father was not going to be as unforgiving as the son believed, but Wilkie Collins’ characters seldom do what we think they will do (which is part of the enjoyment of reading him), and I found the father as exasperating as the sister was kind.
The story depends very heavily on chance and fate to draw these tragedy-bound characters into one another’s spheres. When you have accepted that element, you must concede that anyone would be as foolish and headstrong as Basil over a woman he can’t even say he barely knows (as he does not know her in the least when he decides he is completely in love and must have her and no other). But, Collins handles this deftly and I totally believed the circumstances that ensued after the chance encounter of Basil and Margaret on an omnibus. The lesson here must surely be “never take public transportation if you can afford a private cab.”
I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this, but I am very pleased I put it on my challenge this year. I loved Woman in White and the Moonstone, so Basil is proof for me, if needed, that I should attempt to read everything in Collins’ canon. Next up: No Name.
August 11, 2021
Contemporáneo y amigo de Dickens, Wilkie Collins es un autor importante y uno de los precursores de la novela negra y de intriga. En su caso, aún hay muchos elementos góticos y románticos, pero la trama con giros y suspense ya predomina en sus novelas.
Es el primer libro del autor que leo y el resultado ha sido agridulce: no me ha parecido del todo satisfactorio, pero sí me han quedado ganas de leer otras obras de este autor. De hecho, Basil fue su segunda novela y me imagino que algunos de los fallos se pueden atribuir a la falta de oficio.
La trama es bastante insólita y el eje básico son las diferencias sociales y la barrera que suponían para el matrimonio, que en la época era un asunto más social y económico que sentimental. Pero el protagonista, Basil, que pertenece a una familia acomodada con ínfulas nobiliarias, se enamora a primera vista y perdidamente de una joven que es hija de un simple comerciante. Mr. Sherwin tiene una buena posición económica pero no resulta aceptable para la familia de Basil. El resultado de este planteamiento es un matrimonio secreto, junto con la promesa de Basil a su suegro de no consumarlo hasta pasado un año y de esperar un momento favorable para presentar a su esposa a la familia. En seguida aparecen elementos inquietantes en la relación que van introduciendo un suspense que se alarga hasta el final.
He encontrado muchos aspectos positivos y otros que no lo son tanto.
En primer lugar el suspense. Wikie Collins sabe crear una atmósfera opresiva, ominosa, que incentiva la lectura y le da interés, peeero… quizá los desenlaces de las situaciones no están a la altura de las expectativas que el lector se ha forjado a lo largo de muuuchas páginas.
Los personajes en general tienen carácter, están bien descritos física y sicológicamente, y abundan los secundarios de lujo – la madre y el tutor de Margaret, el padre y el hermano de Basil – peeero la protagonista femenina Margaret, que es esencial para la trama, queda desdibujada. Quizá esta falta de atención se deba a lo que parece ser el pensamiento del autor cuando dice por boca de Basil:
Entre las mujeres siempre parece quedar algo incompleto, una creación moral que hubiera de imprimirse sobre lo estrictamente físico, que sólo el amor es capaz de desarrollar, y que la maternidad perfecciona más si cabe cuando ya está desarrollado.
Las descripciones, tanto de los ambientes interiores de las casas, como del exterior y la naturaleza son poderosas y detalladas y realmente te ponen en situación, peeeero a veces se enrolla mucho, mucho y cansa. Véase:
Fuera, en la mortecina franja ajardinada, los pocos árboles crepusculares y raquíticos se agitaban tan placenteramente a merced del aire como si la brisa que los mecía llegara muy serena, tras atravesar un prado ancho, o bien barriese sus ramas con el frescor traído de un arroyo cristalino.
Se ha de decir que Wilkie Collins escribe muy bien y que mantiene la intriga, ya que los capítulos son cortos y cambia a menudo de escenario. Si no le doy 4 estrellas es porque la trama me ha parecido en muchos momentos un poco absurda – aunque tampoco me sé poner en la cabeza de los victorianos – y creo que se alarga mucho, además de tener un personaje principal poco atractivo.
Es el primer libro del autor que leo y el resultado ha sido agridulce: no me ha parecido del todo satisfactorio, pero sí me han quedado ganas de leer otras obras de este autor. De hecho, Basil fue su segunda novela y me imagino que algunos de los fallos se pueden atribuir a la falta de oficio.
La trama es bastante insólita y el eje básico son las diferencias sociales y la barrera que suponían para el matrimonio, que en la época era un asunto más social y económico que sentimental. Pero el protagonista, Basil, que pertenece a una familia acomodada con ínfulas nobiliarias, se enamora a primera vista y perdidamente de una joven que es hija de un simple comerciante. Mr. Sherwin tiene una buena posición económica pero no resulta aceptable para la familia de Basil. El resultado de este planteamiento es un matrimonio secreto, junto con la promesa de Basil a su suegro de no consumarlo hasta pasado un año y de esperar un momento favorable para presentar a su esposa a la familia. En seguida aparecen elementos inquietantes en la relación que van introduciendo un suspense que se alarga hasta el final.
He encontrado muchos aspectos positivos y otros que no lo son tanto.
En primer lugar el suspense. Wikie Collins sabe crear una atmósfera opresiva, ominosa, que incentiva la lectura y le da interés, peeero… quizá los desenlaces de las situaciones no están a la altura de las expectativas que el lector se ha forjado a lo largo de muuuchas páginas.
Los personajes en general tienen carácter, están bien descritos física y sicológicamente, y abundan los secundarios de lujo – la madre y el tutor de Margaret, el padre y el hermano de Basil – peeero la protagonista femenina Margaret, que es esencial para la trama, queda desdibujada. Quizá esta falta de atención se deba a lo que parece ser el pensamiento del autor cuando dice por boca de Basil:
Entre las mujeres siempre parece quedar algo incompleto, una creación moral que hubiera de imprimirse sobre lo estrictamente físico, que sólo el amor es capaz de desarrollar, y que la maternidad perfecciona más si cabe cuando ya está desarrollado.
Las descripciones, tanto de los ambientes interiores de las casas, como del exterior y la naturaleza son poderosas y detalladas y realmente te ponen en situación, peeeero a veces se enrolla mucho, mucho y cansa. Véase:
Fuera, en la mortecina franja ajardinada, los pocos árboles crepusculares y raquíticos se agitaban tan placenteramente a merced del aire como si la brisa que los mecía llegara muy serena, tras atravesar un prado ancho, o bien barriese sus ramas con el frescor traído de un arroyo cristalino.
Se ha de decir que Wilkie Collins escribe muy bien y que mantiene la intriga, ya que los capítulos son cortos y cambia a menudo de escenario. Si no le doy 4 estrellas es porque la trama me ha parecido en muchos momentos un poco absurda – aunque tampoco me sé poner en la cabeza de los victorianos – y creo que se alarga mucho, además de tener un personaje principal poco atractivo.
November 1, 2021
Maybe 2.5. I love Wilkie Collins's writing but the plotting here was weaker than his usual works and the main character infuriated me.
January 16, 2021
El Basil al que se refiere el titulo de la novela, es un joven que un día ve a una chica en un ómnibus y se enamora perdidamente de ella. Ni siquiera se para a hablar con ella, la sigue, localiza su domicilio y unos días después contacta a su padre para pedir su mano. Pero claro, este argumento tiene enjundia porque Basil es un tanto clasista en el sentido de que su familia es casi aristocrática, y la pobre Margaret Sherwin es hija de un comerciante de telas, osea, que de ningún modo el padre de Basil iba a acceder a este matrimonio. Sin embargo, Basil se ha encaprichado y con el acuerdo (interesado) de su futuro suegro, decide llevar su relación en secreto; accede sobre todo a la propuesta del padre de Margaret: deben casarse enseguida (no fuera a haber pecado entremedias) y Basil debe acceder a que incluso ya casados, su matrimonio no debe ser consumado. Con lo cual Basil se pasa todo un año yendo a casa de los Sherwin a ver a su amada, incluso estando ya casados pero sin tocarla, y todo esto en secreto.
En fin, el argumento es un poco tonto, pero tengamos en cuenta que Wilkie Collins nos está haciendo un retrato puro y duro de las relaciones en la era victoriana. En aquella época debía ser de lo más normal arreglar relaciones y matrimonios entre los hombres de la familia y no pedir ni dar voz a la interesada. Y en este caso concreto, no solo ellas no tenían voz ni voto socialmente hablando sino que Wilkie Collins realmente tampoco se la da a los personajes femeninos de la novela, porque el autor hace dos distinciones muy planas: la mujer ideal, virtuosa, que no conoce pecado, y el demonio, la mujer pecadora, que en un intento por liberarse del yugo paterno y/o seguir sus propios deseos se convierte en una villana. Hay una cita, dónde creo que se define perfectamente este concepto que se tenía de la mujer en la época:
"Será mi esposa, mi amante, mi criada; lo que yo quiera."
No es una novela que me haya entusiasmado, debe ser quizás porque fue de las primeras de sus novelas y todavía Wilkie Collins estaba en la búsqueda de su estilo. La novela se hace muy pesada por el estancamiento del argumento, las eternas reflexiones de Basil en torno a la mujer perfecta, idealizada en su mente, y su indecisión a la hora de enfrentarse a su padre, se convierten en páginas y páginas de no avanzar y de continúo victimismo por parte de Basil, y cuando realmente en la segunda parte parece que adquiere un poco de ritmo, ese ritmo va perdiendo fuelle en el descenso. Los personajes están descritos creo que con poca profundidad, y ya digo que si el autor le hubiera dedicado unas pocas páginas a la descripción de Margaret Sherwin, quizás otro gallo hubiera cantado, pero no, solo conocemos al personaje femenino central de la novela por lo que “ellos” dicen de ella, y casi que no hay ninguna escena donde seamos testigos de “la voz” de Margaret.
Sin embargo, lo que más me ha interesado de esta novela es precisamente como describe a estos victorianos y Basil es un ejemplo puro del hombre victoriano de aquella época: de cara a la galería respetaba y adoraba esos orígenes aristocráticos, sobre todo frente al pater familias, pero a escondidas no le importaba recorrer la parte menos favorecida de la ciudad para conseguir el objeto de su deseo, siempre a escondidas. No es el mejor Wilkie Collins, un tanto mediocre y farragoso.
2,5 estrellas.
En fin, el argumento es un poco tonto, pero tengamos en cuenta que Wilkie Collins nos está haciendo un retrato puro y duro de las relaciones en la era victoriana. En aquella época debía ser de lo más normal arreglar relaciones y matrimonios entre los hombres de la familia y no pedir ni dar voz a la interesada. Y en este caso concreto, no solo ellas no tenían voz ni voto socialmente hablando sino que Wilkie Collins realmente tampoco se la da a los personajes femeninos de la novela, porque el autor hace dos distinciones muy planas: la mujer ideal, virtuosa, que no conoce pecado, y el demonio, la mujer pecadora, que en un intento por liberarse del yugo paterno y/o seguir sus propios deseos se convierte en una villana. Hay una cita, dónde creo que se define perfectamente este concepto que se tenía de la mujer en la época:
"Será mi esposa, mi amante, mi criada; lo que yo quiera."
No es una novela que me haya entusiasmado, debe ser quizás porque fue de las primeras de sus novelas y todavía Wilkie Collins estaba en la búsqueda de su estilo. La novela se hace muy pesada por el estancamiento del argumento, las eternas reflexiones de Basil en torno a la mujer perfecta, idealizada en su mente, y su indecisión a la hora de enfrentarse a su padre, se convierten en páginas y páginas de no avanzar y de continúo victimismo por parte de Basil, y cuando realmente en la segunda parte parece que adquiere un poco de ritmo, ese ritmo va perdiendo fuelle en el descenso. Los personajes están descritos creo que con poca profundidad, y ya digo que si el autor le hubiera dedicado unas pocas páginas a la descripción de Margaret Sherwin, quizás otro gallo hubiera cantado, pero no, solo conocemos al personaje femenino central de la novela por lo que “ellos” dicen de ella, y casi que no hay ninguna escena donde seamos testigos de “la voz” de Margaret.
Sin embargo, lo que más me ha interesado de esta novela es precisamente como describe a estos victorianos y Basil es un ejemplo puro del hombre victoriano de aquella época: de cara a la galería respetaba y adoraba esos orígenes aristocráticos, sobre todo frente al pater familias, pero a escondidas no le importaba recorrer la parte menos favorecida de la ciudad para conseguir el objeto de su deseo, siempre a escondidas. No es el mejor Wilkie Collins, un tanto mediocre y farragoso.
2,5 estrellas.
January 20, 2021
Mi primer Wilkie Collins y me ha sorprendido para bien y para mal.
Tiene un buen inicio que plantea muy bien a los personajes principales y no se demora mucho en explicarte cual va a ser el dilema en la historia.
Sin embargo a medida que avanza la trama, me parece un desarrollo irregular, parándose durante muchas p��ginas en momentos de la trama que no lo merecen y pasan muy rápido por otros que son más interesantes.
La resolución del misterio es bastante previsible y ocurre a mitad novela (error mío claramente no es una novela de este género). No ayuda que el protagonista, Basil, tenga horchata en las venas en vez de sagre y peque de ser naïve hasta más no poder.
Además el narrador es la voz en primera persona, del propio protagonista, relatándonos sus desgracias. Sin embargo hacia el final de la novela cambia a un modelo de diario y epistolar que creo que le hubiera pegado más desde el principio. Tiene pinta que el autor no tenía del todo claro como terminar de acabar la historia.
En conclusión, quiero leer las grandes obras de Collins, y esta me ha servido para conocerlo sin meterme en un tochal de 800 páginas. Sus partes buenas me han gustado mucho y enganchaban, pero las divagaciones me lastraban el ritmo de lectura, en ocasiones.
Aprovecho para contar esta lectura en el Reto Victoriano de Victorian Spirit dentro de la premisa de "Libro que sucede en Londres"
Tiene un buen inicio que plantea muy bien a los personajes principales y no se demora mucho en explicarte cual va a ser el dilema en la historia.
Sin embargo a medida que avanza la trama, me parece un desarrollo irregular, parándose durante muchas p��ginas en momentos de la trama que no lo merecen y pasan muy rápido por otros que son más interesantes.
La resolución del misterio es bastante previsible y ocurre a mitad novela (error mío claramente no es una novela de este género). No ayuda que el protagonista, Basil, tenga horchata en las venas en vez de sagre y peque de ser naïve hasta más no poder.
Además el narrador es la voz en primera persona, del propio protagonista, relatándonos sus desgracias. Sin embargo hacia el final de la novela cambia a un modelo de diario y epistolar que creo que le hubiera pegado más desde el principio. Tiene pinta que el autor no tenía del todo claro como terminar de acabar la historia.
En conclusión, quiero leer las grandes obras de Collins, y esta me ha servido para conocerlo sin meterme en un tochal de 800 páginas. Sus partes buenas me han gustado mucho y enganchaban, pero las divagaciones me lastraban el ritmo de lectura, en ocasiones.
Aprovecho para contar esta lectura en el Reto Victoriano de Victorian Spirit dentro de la premisa de "Libro que sucede en Londres"
March 27, 2023
Scritto nel 1852, Basil è il romanzo con il quale Wilkie Collins esordisce davanti al grande pubblico.
La storia segue la vicenda di un giovane inglese, protagonista eponimo della storia che si innamora ciecamente di Margaret, figlia di un commerciante di tessuti. Il colpo di fulmine si rivelerà suo malgrado una cupa maledizione.
I primi capitoli sembrano scorrere lentamente, vengono forniti dettagli di contesto apparentemente irrilevanti e superflui tanto da indurci a pensare che alcune parti avrebbero potuto essere tagliate o quantomeno ridotte. Tuttavia come spesso accade nella maggior parte dei romanzi del genre mystery o sensation, ciò che all’inizio è apparentemente irrilevante in realtà sarà funzionale nel comprendere lo sviluppo della trama.
Al centro della storia vi è naturalmente un segreto che il protagonista è incapace di rivelare. Nel caso di Basil, il segreto è reso esplicito al lettore e questo gli permette di seguire passo dopo passo le azioni del protagonista in maniera concitata e sempre più sul filo del rasoio.
Infatti, se all’inizio come già detto la lettura scorre lentamente con dettagli apparentemente superflui, più si procede con la lettura e più la narrazione stessa sembra accelerare il passo fino ad arrivare ad un punto d’arrivo verso la fine della storia dove c’è una sorta di cedimento e la lettura ritorna ad un ritmo regolare.
Il numero dei personaggi è ridotto e le loro caratteristiche sono fornite unicamente attraverso le parole del protagonista, unico narratore in prima persona. La caratterizzazione dei personaggi sembra voler accentuare alcuni tratti stereotipati degli stessi che si rivelano soprattutto nei modi e nel linguaggio, attraverso il quale emergono profondi aspetti sociali, socio-economici in particolare.
Sono proprio le differenze sociali a far da sfondo alla storia di Basil e a giocare un ruolo determinante.
Ancora una volta, ambigua è la trattazione delle figure femminili da parte di Collins. In Basil, sono principalmente tre ed è rilevante notare come nessuna di esse sia in grado di fare dei discorsi complessi e articolati o prendere delle decisioni in autonomia. I personaggi femminili sono quindi piuttosto passivi e soggiogati da quelli maschili che tuttavia nel caso del protagonista non mancano di mostrare una profonda debolezza di carattere e una certa subalternità dei confronti della figura paterna. D’altronde, dato il contesto, non ci si stupisce che a dominare è l’idea di una famiglia patriarcale dove il padre e/o marito ha potere decisionale sulla moglie e sui figli, le cui decisioni devono sempre essere funzionali alla tutela e al benessere del patrimonio dell’intera famiglia.
Il matrimonio è quindi inteso come una contrattazione, tanto che Margaret può essere vista come un oggetto o merce di scambio negli affari del padre - non a caso commerciante - con il pretendente marito al quale appunto viene fatto firmare un vero e proprio contratto.
A livello strutturale, significativo è il ruolo ricoperto dalle lettere. Lo scambio epistolare tra i personaggi permette, oltre ad un maggior e diretto coinvolgimento del lettore, di conoscere aspetti decisivi della storia che la semplice narrazione avrebbe impedito di rivelare. Inoltre, le lettere sono talmente importanti che diventano ad un certo punto l’unico veicolo di informazioni tra i personaggi.
In conclusione, pur basandosi su una trama piuttosto banale e comune ai romanzi di questo genere letterario, Basil è un romanzo molto avvincente e dalle spiccate note tipiche delle storie mystery and crime, si va dalla vendetta passando per l’odio e il desiderio di uccidere fino alla follia e al delirio. Si è coinvolti in un crescendo di emozioni che sembrano rimanere attaccate addosso anche una volta conclusa la lettura. Fin troppo sottovalutato, è secondo me un’eccellente opera di esordio che apre le porte a successivi capolavori come The Woman in White.
La storia segue la vicenda di un giovane inglese, protagonista eponimo della storia che si innamora ciecamente di Margaret, figlia di un commerciante di tessuti. Il colpo di fulmine si rivelerà suo malgrado una cupa maledizione.
I primi capitoli sembrano scorrere lentamente, vengono forniti dettagli di contesto apparentemente irrilevanti e superflui tanto da indurci a pensare che alcune parti avrebbero potuto essere tagliate o quantomeno ridotte. Tuttavia come spesso accade nella maggior parte dei romanzi del genre mystery o sensation, ciò che all’inizio è apparentemente irrilevante in realtà sarà funzionale nel comprendere lo sviluppo della trama.
Al centro della storia vi è naturalmente un segreto che il protagonista è incapace di rivelare. Nel caso di Basil, il segreto è reso esplicito al lettore e questo gli permette di seguire passo dopo passo le azioni del protagonista in maniera concitata e sempre più sul filo del rasoio.
Infatti, se all’inizio come già detto la lettura scorre lentamente con dettagli apparentemente superflui, più si procede con la lettura e più la narrazione stessa sembra accelerare il passo fino ad arrivare ad un punto d’arrivo verso la fine della storia dove c’è una sorta di cedimento e la lettura ritorna ad un ritmo regolare.
Il numero dei personaggi è ridotto e le loro caratteristiche sono fornite unicamente attraverso le parole del protagonista, unico narratore in prima persona. La caratterizzazione dei personaggi sembra voler accentuare alcuni tratti stereotipati degli stessi che si rivelano soprattutto nei modi e nel linguaggio, attraverso il quale emergono profondi aspetti sociali, socio-economici in particolare.
Sono proprio le differenze sociali a far da sfondo alla storia di Basil e a giocare un ruolo determinante.
Ancora una volta, ambigua è la trattazione delle figure femminili da parte di Collins. In Basil, sono principalmente tre ed è rilevante notare come nessuna di esse sia in grado di fare dei discorsi complessi e articolati o prendere delle decisioni in autonomia. I personaggi femminili sono quindi piuttosto passivi e soggiogati da quelli maschili che tuttavia nel caso del protagonista non mancano di mostrare una profonda debolezza di carattere e una certa subalternità dei confronti della figura paterna. D’altronde, dato il contesto, non ci si stupisce che a dominare è l’idea di una famiglia patriarcale dove il padre e/o marito ha potere decisionale sulla moglie e sui figli, le cui decisioni devono sempre essere funzionali alla tutela e al benessere del patrimonio dell’intera famiglia.
Il matrimonio è quindi inteso come una contrattazione, tanto che Margaret può essere vista come un oggetto o merce di scambio negli affari del padre - non a caso commerciante - con il pretendente marito al quale appunto viene fatto firmare un vero e proprio contratto.
A livello strutturale, significativo è il ruolo ricoperto dalle lettere. Lo scambio epistolare tra i personaggi permette, oltre ad un maggior e diretto coinvolgimento del lettore, di conoscere aspetti decisivi della storia che la semplice narrazione avrebbe impedito di rivelare. Inoltre, le lettere sono talmente importanti che diventano ad un certo punto l’unico veicolo di informazioni tra i personaggi.
In conclusione, pur basandosi su una trama piuttosto banale e comune ai romanzi di questo genere letterario, Basil è un romanzo molto avvincente e dalle spiccate note tipiche delle storie mystery and crime, si va dalla vendetta passando per l’odio e il desiderio di uccidere fino alla follia e al delirio. Si è coinvolti in un crescendo di emozioni che sembrano rimanere attaccate addosso anche una volta conclusa la lettura. Fin troppo sottovalutato, è secondo me un’eccellente opera di esordio che apre le porte a successivi capolavori come The Woman in White.
August 8, 2015
Basil is Wilkie Collins's second novel. In Basil we see the emergence of the style and techniques that would lead to the future success and strength of Collins's sensation novels. While Basil offers only staggered glimpses of a major Victorian novelist, it is still a novel well-worth reading. In fact, if you enjoy Collins as a writer Basil is a must read in order to see the genesis of his later work.
Tropes such as class conflict, characters' mysterious pasts, marital infidelity, ominous storms and many Gothic touches range throughout the story. The fact that a symmetry of techniques and a full full command both of writing style and effective character development are still to be fully presented in the story should not discourage the reader.
I found myself looking for the beginnings of Collins's later successes. In Basil we meet Margaret Sherwin who is an early harbinger of Lydia Gwilt, Basil who reminds me of Allan Armadale and dream sequences that both foretell what will happen in this story as well as hint at such techniques that will reappear in future Collins novels.
I could not shake the spector of Edgar Allan Poe while reading Basil. On numerous occasions Basil and his situations seemed drawn from many of Poe's protagonists. The eerie gloom and tortured personalities of Poe hovered over Collins's characters.
If you plan to read Wilkie Collins I would not start with this novel; if you would like to read a great novelist by all means read Armadale, The Woman In White or The Moonstone before Basil. If you do, I believe you will continue to be a fan of Collins.
Tropes such as class conflict, characters' mysterious pasts, marital infidelity, ominous storms and many Gothic touches range throughout the story. The fact that a symmetry of techniques and a full full command both of writing style and effective character development are still to be fully presented in the story should not discourage the reader.
I found myself looking for the beginnings of Collins's later successes. In Basil we meet Margaret Sherwin who is an early harbinger of Lydia Gwilt, Basil who reminds me of Allan Armadale and dream sequences that both foretell what will happen in this story as well as hint at such techniques that will reappear in future Collins novels.
I could not shake the spector of Edgar Allan Poe while reading Basil. On numerous occasions Basil and his situations seemed drawn from many of Poe's protagonists. The eerie gloom and tortured personalities of Poe hovered over Collins's characters.
If you plan to read Wilkie Collins I would not start with this novel; if you would like to read a great novelist by all means read Armadale, The Woman In White or The Moonstone before Basil. If you do, I believe you will continue to be a fan of Collins.
January 30, 2021
Wilkie Collins, uno de los autores victorianos más populares, escribió Basil al principio de su extensa carrera. Es una novela sensacionalista (sensation novel) típica de la época, inicialmente publicada por entregas en las nuevas revistas literarias (de su amigo y colega Charles Dickens) antes de aparecer en un único tomo.
La premisa es de traca: Basil, benjamín de "un caballero inglés de inmensa fortuna" del que nunca se nos dice el apellido, se enamora de un flechazo de una muchacha a la que un día ve casualmente en un ómnibus. La sigue hasta su casa, la acosa un poco y habla con su padre, que accede a casarla con él con la insólita condición de no consumar el matrimonio hasta que pase un año. Así empieza "la historia de un error inocente en sus comienzos, culpable en su desarrollo, fatal en su desenlace".
A ver, tiene todos los ingredientes para que os compréis el siguiente tomo de la revista, Collins era un crack del markéting.
La verdad es que con ese inicio el desarrollo decepciona un poco, sobre todo porque todos los escándalos de la sociedad victoriana los tenemos, por suerte, un poco superados. Sin hacer spoilers: yo imaginaba que iban a pasar medio millón de cosas que al final no pasan, el misterio se resuelve pronto y los "villanos" no son tan malos como parece. No os vais a encontrar drama nivel reality, pero con las descripciones que nos hace Collins, tampoco es que se eche mucho de menos.
"El estruendo de las olas contra los acantilados aúlla por encima de mí como si fuese el ruido de un juicio, y el vozarrón del viento que gruñe y que batalla tras de mí, en las oquedades de la cueva, adquiere siempre, siempre, esa misma voz tonante, que sólo habla de advertencia y de condenación a mis oídos."
Si eres un poco cotilla (no te juzgo) y no te importa montarte la mitad de la novela por tu cuenta, este libro es para ti. Si te gusta que pasen cosas de verdad, hay más libros.
La premisa es de traca: Basil, benjamín de "un caballero inglés de inmensa fortuna" del que nunca se nos dice el apellido, se enamora de un flechazo de una muchacha a la que un día ve casualmente en un ómnibus. La sigue hasta su casa, la acosa un poco y habla con su padre, que accede a casarla con él con la insólita condición de no consumar el matrimonio hasta que pase un año. Así empieza "la historia de un error inocente en sus comienzos, culpable en su desarrollo, fatal en su desenlace".
A ver, tiene todos los ingredientes para que os compréis el siguiente tomo de la revista, Collins era un crack del markéting.
La verdad es que con ese inicio el desarrollo decepciona un poco, sobre todo porque todos los escándalos de la sociedad victoriana los tenemos, por suerte, un poco superados. Sin hacer spoilers: yo imaginaba que iban a pasar medio millón de cosas que al final no pasan, el misterio se resuelve pronto y los "villanos" no son tan malos como parece. No os vais a encontrar drama nivel reality, pero con las descripciones que nos hace Collins, tampoco es que se eche mucho de menos.
"El estruendo de las olas contra los acantilados aúlla por encima de mí como si fuese el ruido de un juicio, y el vozarrón del viento que gruñe y que batalla tras de mí, en las oquedades de la cueva, adquiere siempre, siempre, esa misma voz tonante, que sólo habla de advertencia y de condenación a mis oídos."
Si eres un poco cotilla (no te juzgo) y no te importa montarte la mitad de la novela por tu cuenta, este libro es para ti. Si te gusta que pasen cosas de verdad, hay más libros.
February 26, 2024
Una storia d'impatto costruita sotto forma di diario personale del protagonista e lettere di terzi che aumentano i punti di vista della vicenda. Malgrado l'apertura del racconto con un banalissimo e comunissimo avvenimento, un incontro e un amore a prima vista, solo l'incipit misterioso fa presagire che una verità inaspettatamente drammatica si nasconde dietro: mi ha lasciato senza fiato, ho divorato letteralmente le pagine per sapere come sarebbe finita la storia. In un libro di poche pagine (circa 300) si trovano dei personaggi che vivono da soli, uno stile di scrittura scorrevole e un racconto coinvolgente che colpisce sia per la suspense che per l'evoluzione delle tematiche toccate: ingenuità e irrazionalità giovanile, passione, ossessione, follia, depressione e morte.
Dello stesso autore ho letto il suo romanzo più famoso La Pietra di Luna di cui ho apprezzato molto lo stile di scrittura e la narrazione di tipo "poliziesco". Basil è un romanzo precedente e uno dei primi dell'autore: ho ritrovato lo stesso tipo di impianto narrativo ma con toni più "romantici" e a tratti affine a un romanzo gotico, una prosa più incalzante e d'effetto da cuore in gola.
5/5 ⭐
Dello stesso autore ho letto il suo romanzo più famoso La Pietra di Luna di cui ho apprezzato molto lo stile di scrittura e la narrazione di tipo "poliziesco". Basil è un romanzo precedente e uno dei primi dell'autore: ho ritrovato lo stesso tipo di impianto narrativo ma con toni più "romantici" e a tratti affine a un romanzo gotico, una prosa più incalzante e d'effetto da cuore in gola.
5/5 ⭐
April 21, 2021
Collins is a good storyteller, and his writing is page-turningly smooth. I have read and enjoyed Woman in White and The Moonstone and I will likely read other Collins novels such as No Name and Armadale sometime in the future.
Collins writes sensation novels, which I realize are a bit overdramatic by definition, However, I thought this one was too much so, more overly dramatic than either Woman in White or The Moonstone, both of which also had much better characterization and plot. I kept visualizing this story as a Dudley-do-Right melodrama, with Basil’s sister a ’fair maiden Nell’ and a Snidely Whiplash villain. Despite Collins’ storytelling skills, I soon grew weary of Basil‘s overwrought narration and his self-destructive decision-making that was used to advance the plot.
This is only his second novel, and Collins does sharpen his skills and get better at characterization. But, at this point in time, he has written a 2.5-star novel, which I have chosen to round down to 2 stars, largely due to my dissatisfaction with the ending. A very readable 2-star novel though.
Collins writes sensation novels, which I realize are a bit overdramatic by definition, However, I thought this one was too much so, more overly dramatic than either Woman in White or The Moonstone, both of which also had much better characterization and plot. I kept visualizing this story as a Dudley-do-Right melodrama, with Basil’s sister a ’fair maiden Nell’ and a Snidely Whiplash villain. Despite Collins’ storytelling skills, I soon grew weary of Basil‘s overwrought narration and his self-destructive decision-making that was used to advance the plot.
This is only his second novel, and Collins does sharpen his skills and get better at characterization. But, at this point in time, he has written a 2.5-star novel, which I have chosen to round down to 2 stars, largely due to my dissatisfaction with the ending. A very readable 2-star novel though.
September 15, 2010
All great relationships begin with a little old-fashioned stalking!
The title character, Basil, is son of a man who treasures the family name above anything else. Basil sees dark beauty Margaret on a bus (actually an omnibus, but to modernize it for the comprehension of others we're going to stick with 'bus' here), realizes he must have her, stalks her a bit, and finds out she's the daughter of a linen-draper. That's like the bottom of the barrel according to Basil's father. He would never approve of any relation with such scum as a linen-draper's daughter so Basil concocts this fantastic plot to marry Margaret on the sly (with her scummy father's permission, of course - because what father in the world would turn down such an offer!?).
And... because this is a Wilkie Collins story and he had the likes of his buddy Charlie Dickens to contend with as an author, the story became very dramatic, and there's lots of pale faces and swooning and melodramas. And that's just coming from Basil. There's also an evil fellow named Mannion (which is just a creepy name by itself) and Basil's lovely sister Clara who sadly is also under the thumb of their father and not likely to get away.
This was actually just an okay story. I love Collins (primarily for The Moonstone and The Woman in White, both of which are seriously due for a couple re-reads), so I did have very high hopes for this one. I can't say I was disappointed but I certainly wasn't blown away as I was when I read those other two that everyone knows.
The Oxford World's Classic edition has some great end-notes, very helpful for figuring out some of the less common 19th-c vocabulary, or just for better understanding why some dude named Basil acts like such a wiener. This was Collins' second novel and I think it shows a slight lack of skill. It certainly felt like he was trying to write like his pal, Dickens, but hadn't quite found his own voice yet. Since I don't dislike Dickens either I can't say that this was a turn-off for me, though I will say again that I really found Basil to be quite the drag at times. Like to the point where I wanted to tell him to grow a pair already.
The title character, Basil, is son of a man who treasures the family name above anything else. Basil sees dark beauty Margaret on a bus (actually an omnibus, but to modernize it for the comprehension of others we're going to stick with 'bus' here), realizes he must have her, stalks her a bit, and finds out she's the daughter of a linen-draper. That's like the bottom of the barrel according to Basil's father. He would never approve of any relation with such scum as a linen-draper's daughter so Basil concocts this fantastic plot to marry Margaret on the sly (with her scummy father's permission, of course - because what father in the world would turn down such an offer!?).
And... because this is a Wilkie Collins story and he had the likes of his buddy Charlie Dickens to contend with as an author, the story became very dramatic, and there's lots of pale faces and swooning and melodramas. And that's just coming from Basil. There's also an evil fellow named Mannion (which is just a creepy name by itself) and Basil's lovely sister Clara who sadly is also under the thumb of their father and not likely to get away.
This was actually just an okay story. I love Collins (primarily for The Moonstone and The Woman in White, both of which are seriously due for a couple re-reads), so I did have very high hopes for this one. I can't say I was disappointed but I certainly wasn't blown away as I was when I read those other two that everyone knows.
The Oxford World's Classic edition has some great end-notes, very helpful for figuring out some of the less common 19th-c vocabulary, or just for better understanding why some dude named Basil acts like such a wiener. This was Collins' second novel and I think it shows a slight lack of skill. It certainly felt like he was trying to write like his pal, Dickens, but hadn't quite found his own voice yet. Since I don't dislike Dickens either I can't say that this was a turn-off for me, though I will say again that I really found Basil to be quite the drag at times. Like to the point where I wanted to tell him to grow a pair already.
October 14, 2015
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Basil (1852) is the second novel written by British author Wilkie Collins, after Antonina.
3* The Woman in White
4* The Moonstone
4* Who Killed Zebedee?
4* The Dead Alive
4* Mrs. Zant and the Ghost
3* A Fair Penitent
4* The Frozen Deep
4* The Haunted Hotel
4* The Law and the Lady
4* No Name
3* My Lady's Money
3* Mad Monkton And Other Stories
4* Armadale
3* The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed
3* Stories by English Authors; England
3* Mr. Lismore And The Widow
3* The Dead Secret
4* Basil
TBR Poor Miss Finch
TBR Blind Love
TBR Man and Wife
TBR The Queen of Hearts
TBR Hide and Seek
Basil (1852) is the second novel written by British author Wilkie Collins, after Antonina.
3* The Woman in White
4* The Moonstone
4* Who Killed Zebedee?
4* The Dead Alive
4* Mrs. Zant and the Ghost
3* A Fair Penitent
4* The Frozen Deep
4* The Haunted Hotel
4* The Law and the Lady
4* No Name
3* My Lady's Money
3* Mad Monkton And Other Stories
4* Armadale
3* The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed
3* Stories by English Authors; England
3* Mr. Lismore And The Widow
3* The Dead Secret
4* Basil
TBR Poor Miss Finch
TBR Blind Love
TBR Man and Wife
TBR The Queen of Hearts
TBR Hide and Seek
September 13, 2017
If Basil would've just chilled out and not demanded a secret marriage with the first girl he saw who struck his fancy, he wouldn't have had any problems (nor a story, I guess). Basil is so naive and entitled throughout the entire story that it was hard for me to have any sympathy for him. Some weird incestual undertones in his love for his sister also were uncomfortable, in addition to the way other female characters were characterized. The only redeeming thing about this book is Ralph, the older brother who kind of saves the day, but is introduced as an unreliable mischief-maker and degrader of the family name--which is apparently all Basil thinks his father cares about. I appreciated this book as a progressive (in theme) Victorian novel, but the application of it just didn't satisfy me.
March 13, 2021
This is my 2nd Wilkie Collins novel after The Woman in White. I loved both books, and I think Wilkie Collins may be one of the most readable of the classical authors. He may just be the king of the sensationalist novel. In this book, we follow Basil, the son of a wealthy, snobbish gentleman. Basil falls in love at first sight on a bus one day and decides he must marry the girl, despite the fact she comes from a poor background and his father would never accept it. What follows is a twisting turning tale of deception.
The writing style felt very modern and was easily understood without referring to any of the footnotes. Collins was a close friend of Charles Dickens, but in my mind he is a far more entertaining option.
The writing style felt very modern and was easily understood without referring to any of the footnotes. Collins was a close friend of Charles Dickens, but in my mind he is a far more entertaining option.
January 15, 2025
Seconda fatica dell'autore inglese, Basil, è una lettura perfetta per chi vuole avvicinarsi a Wilkie Collins ma è spaventato dalla mole dei suoi libri. Seppur non al livello di altri suoi gialli più avvincenti, Basil è un libro che coinvolge il lettore nella storia di un uomo estremamente ingenuo che si innamora di una ragazza di un ceto sociale inferiore al suo.
Vero è che l'intreccio è molto meno intricato di quello a cui i suoi lettori sono abituati e anche i personaggi non sono dei più memorabili ma rimane un libro scritto in maniera eccellente, la cui prima parte piuttosto lenta prende man mano ritmo ed accelera fino ad una conclusione degna di nota. Un romanzo insolito per l'autore inglese ma coinvolgente.
Vero è che l'intreccio è molto meno intricato di quello a cui i suoi lettori sono abituati e anche i personaggi non sono dei più memorabili ma rimane un libro scritto in maniera eccellente, la cui prima parte piuttosto lenta prende man mano ritmo ed accelera fino ad una conclusione degna di nota. Un romanzo insolito per l'autore inglese ma coinvolgente.
March 11, 2009
One of the best books that I have ever read. I couldn't stop reading it. Everytime you thought that the story was winding down, something CRAZY would happen. I am so in love with the author, Wilkie Collins. He is seriously my ideal author. Read this book...now.
November 5, 2023
” It is strange how frequently that instinctive belief in omens and predestinations, which we flippantly term Superstition, asserts its natural prerogative even over minds trained to repel it, at the moment of some great event in our lives.”
Basil is an 1852 tragic romance that concerns a son, Basil, whose father is obsessed with social classes and forbids the son to marry below his station. The tragic part comes when the son falls in love with a line draper’s daughter. It’s a story with themes of love, deceit, betrayal, revenge, class conflict, and family devotion.
If you are familiar with Wilkie Collins by way of his best-known novels, The Woman in White and The Moonstone – both of which were forerunners of the detective and police procedural genre – know that Basil is not a mystery or crime novel per se. Nonetheless, it does possess a villain hellbent on revenge. While this is an early work of the author, the writing is no less engaging than the titles mentioned though it is quite different than what I have come to associate as a typical WC book.
The story opens and closes with Basil writing his autobiography. It utilizes firsthand accounts of the events along with letters obtained and transcribed later. It reminded me of modern novels of late that recreated a story using a multimedia approach (pod casts, interviews, diary, etc.).
I started by reading an eBook but switched to an audio read by Nicholas Boulton. I most definitely recommend the audio. Boulton’s performance is excellent and added the emotion (anguish, torment, rage, fear) to the narrator’s voice that greatly enhances the novel.
While this is a solid novel worth reading, it does not reach the level that his later works, his best know works, do. The flaw in this plot is that the chance of it borders on unrealistic. That and some of the letters read in the text make for slow pacing. If you are new to Collins, start with the better know novels and work your way back here.
Basil is an 1852 tragic romance that concerns a son, Basil, whose father is obsessed with social classes and forbids the son to marry below his station. The tragic part comes when the son falls in love with a line draper’s daughter. It’s a story with themes of love, deceit, betrayal, revenge, class conflict, and family devotion.
If you are familiar with Wilkie Collins by way of his best-known novels, The Woman in White and The Moonstone – both of which were forerunners of the detective and police procedural genre – know that Basil is not a mystery or crime novel per se. Nonetheless, it does possess a villain hellbent on revenge. While this is an early work of the author, the writing is no less engaging than the titles mentioned though it is quite different than what I have come to associate as a typical WC book.
The story opens and closes with Basil writing his autobiography. It utilizes firsthand accounts of the events along with letters obtained and transcribed later. It reminded me of modern novels of late that recreated a story using a multimedia approach (pod casts, interviews, diary, etc.).
I started by reading an eBook but switched to an audio read by Nicholas Boulton. I most definitely recommend the audio. Boulton’s performance is excellent and added the emotion (anguish, torment, rage, fear) to the narrator’s voice that greatly enhances the novel.
While this is a solid novel worth reading, it does not reach the level that his later works, his best know works, do. The flaw in this plot is that the chance of it borders on unrealistic. That and some of the letters read in the text make for slow pacing. If you are new to Collins, start with the better know novels and work your way back here.
February 19, 2013
"I am now about to relate the story of an error, innocent in its beginning, guilty in its progress, fatal in its results . . ."
Opening my fourth year course in ‘Madness and Sexuality in Victorian Literature’, the first book I encountered was Wilkie Collins’ Basil. Though better known for his classic works The Moonstone and The Woman in White, his 1852 novel Basil was in fact the breeding ground for his development of what came to be known as ‘the sensation novel’. Contemporary reviews were appalled by its frankness and described it as ‘a tale of criminality, almost revolting from its domestic horrors. The vicious atmosphere in which the drama of the tale is enveloped, weighs on us like a nightmare’ (D. O. Maddyn).
Basil tells the story of a secret and unconsummated marriage, between the aristocratic Basil and Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, kept secret for one year. Basil struggles between the social pressures of his class, embodied in the character of his proud and honourable father, and his passion for Margaret. But as the year unwinds his family is ripped apart by the silent presence of his secret life and Basil becomes increasingly daunted by the Sherwin’s business employee, Mannion. A man whose ‘voice was as void of expression as his face’, Mannion still holds a mysterious force over the family. Mr. Sherwin is entirely dependant on him, Mrs. Sherwin seems to fear his very presence but remains silent, and even Margaret refuses to discuss his character. As the climax of the year draws near Basil suffers the shocks and horrors of betrayal, insanity and death.
" . . . each laid a talon on my shoulder – each raised a veil which was one hideous net-work of twining worms. I saw through the ghastly corruption of their faces the look that told me who they were – the monstrous iniquities incarnate in monstrous forms; the fiend-souls made visible in fiend-shapes"
Throughout the narrative Collins explores notions of sexuality, social class and madness through one of the most unconventional male protagonists of the Victorian age: a rich, young man characterised by traditionally feminine gentleness and disgust of physical sexuality: ‘Men may not understand this; women, I believe will’. Furthermore, Basil is constantly set up for comparison with other models of masculinity within the text such as the boisterous playboy, embodied in his brother Ralph, and the firm and immovable Mannion. Indeed, Basil is a novel of literary doubles: the passive Basil and the active Ralph; his angelic sister Clara and the dark temptress of Margaret; Basil’s dead mother and the ailing and repressed Mrs. Sherwin.
Basil is both revolutionary and a book of its time. Its slightly reductive depictions of women, the angel in the house and the fallen woman, are characteristic for the period if somewhat tiring to the modern reader. However, its treatment of adultery, its sub-textual sexual imagery, and its exploration of Victorian masculinity are truly fascinating. One of its strongest features is Collins’ use of atmosphere through language that lends a psychological horror to its reading. Basil, as the forefather of the sensation novel, which in turn led to the birth of detective fiction, acts as an intriguing historical piece that not only reveals contemporary perceptions of sexuality and madness, but also helps to trace the birth of a genre.
Opening my fourth year course in ‘Madness and Sexuality in Victorian Literature’, the first book I encountered was Wilkie Collins’ Basil. Though better known for his classic works The Moonstone and The Woman in White, his 1852 novel Basil was in fact the breeding ground for his development of what came to be known as ‘the sensation novel’. Contemporary reviews were appalled by its frankness and described it as ‘a tale of criminality, almost revolting from its domestic horrors. The vicious atmosphere in which the drama of the tale is enveloped, weighs on us like a nightmare’ (D. O. Maddyn).
Basil tells the story of a secret and unconsummated marriage, between the aristocratic Basil and Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, kept secret for one year. Basil struggles between the social pressures of his class, embodied in the character of his proud and honourable father, and his passion for Margaret. But as the year unwinds his family is ripped apart by the silent presence of his secret life and Basil becomes increasingly daunted by the Sherwin’s business employee, Mannion. A man whose ‘voice was as void of expression as his face’, Mannion still holds a mysterious force over the family. Mr. Sherwin is entirely dependant on him, Mrs. Sherwin seems to fear his very presence but remains silent, and even Margaret refuses to discuss his character. As the climax of the year draws near Basil suffers the shocks and horrors of betrayal, insanity and death.
" . . . each laid a talon on my shoulder – each raised a veil which was one hideous net-work of twining worms. I saw through the ghastly corruption of their faces the look that told me who they were – the monstrous iniquities incarnate in monstrous forms; the fiend-souls made visible in fiend-shapes"
Throughout the narrative Collins explores notions of sexuality, social class and madness through one of the most unconventional male protagonists of the Victorian age: a rich, young man characterised by traditionally feminine gentleness and disgust of physical sexuality: ‘Men may not understand this; women, I believe will’. Furthermore, Basil is constantly set up for comparison with other models of masculinity within the text such as the boisterous playboy, embodied in his brother Ralph, and the firm and immovable Mannion. Indeed, Basil is a novel of literary doubles: the passive Basil and the active Ralph; his angelic sister Clara and the dark temptress of Margaret; Basil’s dead mother and the ailing and repressed Mrs. Sherwin.
Basil is both revolutionary and a book of its time. Its slightly reductive depictions of women, the angel in the house and the fallen woman, are characteristic for the period if somewhat tiring to the modern reader. However, its treatment of adultery, its sub-textual sexual imagery, and its exploration of Victorian masculinity are truly fascinating. One of its strongest features is Collins’ use of atmosphere through language that lends a psychological horror to its reading. Basil, as the forefather of the sensation novel, which in turn led to the birth of detective fiction, acts as an intriguing historical piece that not only reveals contemporary perceptions of sexuality and madness, but also helps to trace the birth of a genre.
August 23, 2018
I really enjoyed this engaging novel by Wilkie Collins, which was my second Collins novel! The novel addresses various themes and points, such as father- child relationship, class distinction, gender, communication vs poor communication, the important role of family in one's life, appearance vs. reality, greed, revenge, the need for support, adultery, and marriage and faithfulness. I loved how Collins showed how the balance of the family as system is affected because of one member of this system, and how what happens to one member affects the entire system.
April 24, 2021
When the new star system comes along I will upgrade to 2.5 stars. This was a melodramatic Victorian tale of love, deception, class conflict, revenge, illness, death and was full of storms, tossing seas, cliffside walks, coincidences, misunderstandings, letters, broken promises-the full gothic spectrum. It didn't quite work for me, but still an enjoyable read.
March 25, 2024
Nadie crea villanos como lo hacía Collins.
March 15, 2016
I do adore Wilkie Collins' writing, but this sad Gothic tale was seriously depressing from start to finish. In this story, the main character Basil sees a young woman in the street, and instantly falls in love with her. He meets her briefly, and learns that her name is Margaret. Later he approaches her father, and the two are married within a couple of weeks with the proviso that Margaret remain living with her family until her 18th birthday. So Basil is married in name only and can only visit Margaret with her mother as a chaperone. During this time, Basil meets Mr. Mannion, a family friend of his in-laws, but the man is so strange and mysterious that Basil can't decide if Mannion is friend or foe.
There's horror and betrayal and violence, insanity and disease and death; Gothic literature at its finest! The plot is rather obvious, but told with such energy that it still holds the reader's interest. The atmosphere in the book is very shocking and lurid for a classic. Every character is always half-insane or on their way there, because of the mental and emotional strain they are under all the time. This tension creates a feeling of suspense, even though the plot is not especially suspenseful.
As always, I love that Collins' main character has a high sense of honor and duty, a sensitive nature, and a compassionate and self-sacrificing heart. The heroes in his books are just my kind of fellas! But this one, Basil, got on my nerves. He has all those qualities that I love, but he has no common sense, no street smarts, no wisdom about human nature. He is taken advantage of by nearly everybody because of his kind nature, and he has no circumspect vision to see when people are plotting against him or lying to him.
Then again, I hate those qualities in Basil's character, because that is EXACTLY my own personality. I'm always getting walked on because I'm kind and generous to everyone, and I am very gullible. I never imagine that people would and are going behind my back, lying to me, and generally making trouble, because I imagine everyone to be as truthful and good-hearted as I am myself. Basil is just like that. He can't imagine why anyone would want to lie or seek revenge or steal from him, and so he sails headlong into disaster with his eyes shut. Oh, Basil, you stupid fool. You're too good and sweet to live in a dark world like this one.
The villains are particularly villainous in this book, and they come in all shapes and sizes: The selfish girl without a heart, the greedy businessman with a tendency towards blackmail, the disturbed monomaniac utterly focused on revenge.
There are also some more complex characters who walk the line between good and bad, and some unexpected heroes who surprised me by popping in at the end.
All in all, a deliciously passionate and wild classic with Collins' wonderful writing style that I have come to know and love!
There's horror and betrayal and violence, insanity and disease and death; Gothic literature at its finest! The plot is rather obvious, but told with such energy that it still holds the reader's interest. The atmosphere in the book is very shocking and lurid for a classic. Every character is always half-insane or on their way there, because of the mental and emotional strain they are under all the time. This tension creates a feeling of suspense, even though the plot is not especially suspenseful.
As always, I love that Collins' main character has a high sense of honor and duty, a sensitive nature, and a compassionate and self-sacrificing heart. The heroes in his books are just my kind of fellas! But this one, Basil, got on my nerves. He has all those qualities that I love, but he has no common sense, no street smarts, no wisdom about human nature. He is taken advantage of by nearly everybody because of his kind nature, and he has no circumspect vision to see when people are plotting against him or lying to him.
Then again, I hate those qualities in Basil's character, because that is EXACTLY my own personality. I'm always getting walked on because I'm kind and generous to everyone, and I am very gullible. I never imagine that people would and are going behind my back, lying to me, and generally making trouble, because I imagine everyone to be as truthful and good-hearted as I am myself. Basil is just like that. He can't imagine why anyone would want to lie or seek revenge or steal from him, and so he sails headlong into disaster with his eyes shut. Oh, Basil, you stupid fool. You're too good and sweet to live in a dark world like this one.
The villains are particularly villainous in this book, and they come in all shapes and sizes: The selfish girl without a heart, the greedy businessman with a tendency towards blackmail, the disturbed monomaniac utterly focused on revenge.
There are also some more complex characters who walk the line between good and bad, and some unexpected heroes who surprised me by popping in at the end.
All in all, a deliciously passionate and wild classic with Collins' wonderful writing style that I have come to know and love!
December 18, 2018
Wilkie Collins is one of the most underrated writers of the Victorian period. His The Woman in White was an outright masterpiece; The Moonstone was good, if a bit overlong. I enjoyed Basil, his second novel, despite all the high melodrama.
Basil (no last name given) is the younger son of a British M.P., in the good graces of his family as the elder son Ralph is a bit of a scapegrace. But then Basil commits the ultimate crime by falling in love with a draper's daughter. The father insists on a quick marriage, which is not be consummated for the period of a whole year. During that year, the draper's assistant returns from Europe and, while pretending to be Basil's friend, seduces his young wife. When he discovers this by accident, Basil attacks this assistant, Robert Mannion, and mauls him.
At this point, things become complicated. Basil is drummed out of his family because he has dared to marry beneath his station. Although his face has been somewhat mutilated by Basil, Mannion recovers and swears revenge. Basil's unfaithful wife, Margaret, contracts typhus while visiting Mannion in the hospital and dies. Basil leaves for Cornwall, with Mannion dogging his footsteps and turns the Cornish villagers against our hero. Eventually, things work out, but not before some high drama a la Wagner on the Cornish coast.
Even when he is being a bit outré, Collins is great fun.
Basil (no last name given) is the younger son of a British M.P., in the good graces of his family as the elder son Ralph is a bit of a scapegrace. But then Basil commits the ultimate crime by falling in love with a draper's daughter. The father insists on a quick marriage, which is not be consummated for the period of a whole year. During that year, the draper's assistant returns from Europe and, while pretending to be Basil's friend, seduces his young wife. When he discovers this by accident, Basil attacks this assistant, Robert Mannion, and mauls him.
At this point, things become complicated. Basil is drummed out of his family because he has dared to marry beneath his station. Although his face has been somewhat mutilated by Basil, Mannion recovers and swears revenge. Basil's unfaithful wife, Margaret, contracts typhus while visiting Mannion in the hospital and dies. Basil leaves for Cornwall, with Mannion dogging his footsteps and turns the Cornish villagers against our hero. Eventually, things work out, but not before some high drama a la Wagner on the Cornish coast.
Even when he is being a bit outré, Collins is great fun.
January 19, 2018
Basil is Wilkie Collins' second novel. While not as refined and as intricate as his later works, it is still a solid story which I very much enjoyed. The atmosphere, with the sense of impending danger which I have always loved in his most famous novels, is involving and I was always immersed in the story, even if the plot isn't particularly surprising. I also liked the characters even if, again, they were not as well constructed and as remarkable as Collins' most famous creations.
I think Basil is a great place to start if you are interested in this author but are intimidated by his long novels. It has all the key elements he is good at, and is overall a great read.
I think Basil is a great place to start if you are interested in this author but are intimidated by his long novels. It has all the key elements he is good at, and is overall a great read.
March 8, 2013
Hello. My name is Pam and I'm a Collins-holic. Books like this are the reason. Just when you think you've got it sussed and can sit back and relax....BAM! Collins hits you with another twist. And the topics this book deals with are about as non-trivial as you can get: The class system, women's rights (or lack of them), domestic violence/abuse, bribery, blackmail, revenge, and of course, love at first sight (or as we call it today--stalking).
July 12, 2017
Di tutti i piaceri che un uomo trova nella compagnia della donna che ama, quali possono uguagliare il piacere di leggere dallo stesso libro insieme a lei? Questa è, tra tutte, la sola occasione in cui puoi respirare con il suo respiro per ore, seguire ogni minimo palpito del suo petto, ogni più lieve gradazione dei suoi sospiri, come se il suo cuore battesse, la sua vita ardesse dentro la tua.
October 31, 2021
One of the most accessible classics I’ve ever read. Really enjoyed the story and Collins’ writing!
March 5, 2019
Summary: The account of a secret marriage between an aristocrat's son and the daughter of a shopkeeper and all the ways things went terribly wrong.
You are the second, and favored son of a wealthy aristocrat. Your older brother, Ralph, is alienated from your stern father because of his indiscretions. Your sister, Clara, adores you, and delights in your company and wants only the best for you in all things.
And then one day you are smitten with a young girl you see on an omnibus--so smitten you discretely follow her home. Subsequently you see her in her window, talking to her parrot. You know this is love. You learn she is Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, a shop keeper well below your social class. You know your father would never countenance such a relationship. Keeping your intentions secret from him and your sister, you manage an interview with Margaret's father, speaking of your love, and seeking her hand in marriage. Mr. Sherwin agrees on one condition--that they marry in a week but not consummate the relationship for a year. He also has to take an insurance policy on his life. Without consulting anyone, he accepts. And so begins a strange relationship that eventuates in a betrayal, insanity, exile, death and mortal danger to the title character.
Basil goes through with the wedding, and is permitted to see her regularly, chaperoned by Mrs. Sherwin, who seems disturbed in some way about all this. Basil keeps all of this secret from his family. They know he has a secret, which estranges him, even as they respect the secret in their rectitude, and in Clara's case, her affection and concern. At first, things seem wonderful between Margaret and Basil, with evenings spent reading and talking together. Then Mr. Sherwin's assistant Robert Mannion returns, with whom Mrs. Sherwin is decidedly uneasy. Margaret's mood seems to change at this time, even as Mannion acts with unfailing courtesy toward Basil, even welcoming him to his apartment on a stormy night. As they part, a bolt of lightening illuminates Mannion's face, giving it a sinister appearance. Only on the evening before the year is up does Basil discover the evil when he spots Mannion escorting Margaret, not to her home, but a hotel room!
I won't spoil the rest of the story except that this is where the tale of insanity, betrayal, mortal danger, and death comes in--along with an element of family revenge. The buildup to all these things occupies roughly the first half of the book, and, at least this reader found himself wanting to shake Basil and alert him to how he is being taken advantage of by this conspiracy of father and daughter, and of the sinister Mannion. Ah, love is blind! It is the second half that is riveting as all of this blows up in Basil's face, and his secret is exposed to his family. These pages seemed to read much more quickly, particularly as we discover the mania of Mannion (interesting name for a character!).
This is early Wilkie Collins, his second novel (the first was destroyed) and second publication, the first being a memoir on his father's life. The plot seems a bit to obvious, and the characters are caricatures to a certain degree. It is obvious that Collins can tell a story, in this case through a first person narrative of the title character, and the story redeems some of the other flaws.
There are at least two aspects of Victorian society that Collins exposes. One is the rigid class structures that prevent marrying below one's class and engender both the harsh rectitude of Basil's father, and the resentments of Mr. Sherwin and the vengeance of Mannion.
The inferior place of women in this social structure also is in evidence. Basil and Mr. Sherwin really decide Margaret's fate. Mrs. Sherwin is silenced (at least until the climactic events of the story). Clara is the loving but ineffectual sister. Ralph, the outlaw brother, is the one who gets things done. Margaret can only assert her wishes through manipulation, or an adulterous affair.
It seems here that Collins evolves in his later fiction. Consider the contrast between these characters and Valeria in The Law and the Lady (review). The Victorian structures still exist, but Collins has begun to envision stronger women characters and more creative plot possibilities for them.
If you are a Wilkie Collins fan and have read works like The Moonstone, or The Woman in White, or the above-mentioned The Law and the Lady, you will find this work of interest not only for the themes, but to see the development of Collins's skill. If you are just discovering Collins, one of the first to write in the genre of crime fiction, I would go with either The Moonstone or The Woman in White first, and if you find you like him, then delve into other works, including this, the earliest published of his novels.
You are the second, and favored son of a wealthy aristocrat. Your older brother, Ralph, is alienated from your stern father because of his indiscretions. Your sister, Clara, adores you, and delights in your company and wants only the best for you in all things.
And then one day you are smitten with a young girl you see on an omnibus--so smitten you discretely follow her home. Subsequently you see her in her window, talking to her parrot. You know this is love. You learn she is Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, a shop keeper well below your social class. You know your father would never countenance such a relationship. Keeping your intentions secret from him and your sister, you manage an interview with Margaret's father, speaking of your love, and seeking her hand in marriage. Mr. Sherwin agrees on one condition--that they marry in a week but not consummate the relationship for a year. He also has to take an insurance policy on his life. Without consulting anyone, he accepts. And so begins a strange relationship that eventuates in a betrayal, insanity, exile, death and mortal danger to the title character.
Basil goes through with the wedding, and is permitted to see her regularly, chaperoned by Mrs. Sherwin, who seems disturbed in some way about all this. Basil keeps all of this secret from his family. They know he has a secret, which estranges him, even as they respect the secret in their rectitude, and in Clara's case, her affection and concern. At first, things seem wonderful between Margaret and Basil, with evenings spent reading and talking together. Then Mr. Sherwin's assistant Robert Mannion returns, with whom Mrs. Sherwin is decidedly uneasy. Margaret's mood seems to change at this time, even as Mannion acts with unfailing courtesy toward Basil, even welcoming him to his apartment on a stormy night. As they part, a bolt of lightening illuminates Mannion's face, giving it a sinister appearance. Only on the evening before the year is up does Basil discover the evil when he spots Mannion escorting Margaret, not to her home, but a hotel room!
I won't spoil the rest of the story except that this is where the tale of insanity, betrayal, mortal danger, and death comes in--along with an element of family revenge. The buildup to all these things occupies roughly the first half of the book, and, at least this reader found himself wanting to shake Basil and alert him to how he is being taken advantage of by this conspiracy of father and daughter, and of the sinister Mannion. Ah, love is blind! It is the second half that is riveting as all of this blows up in Basil's face, and his secret is exposed to his family. These pages seemed to read much more quickly, particularly as we discover the mania of Mannion (interesting name for a character!).
This is early Wilkie Collins, his second novel (the first was destroyed) and second publication, the first being a memoir on his father's life. The plot seems a bit to obvious, and the characters are caricatures to a certain degree. It is obvious that Collins can tell a story, in this case through a first person narrative of the title character, and the story redeems some of the other flaws.
There are at least two aspects of Victorian society that Collins exposes. One is the rigid class structures that prevent marrying below one's class and engender both the harsh rectitude of Basil's father, and the resentments of Mr. Sherwin and the vengeance of Mannion.
The inferior place of women in this social structure also is in evidence. Basil and Mr. Sherwin really decide Margaret's fate. Mrs. Sherwin is silenced (at least until the climactic events of the story). Clara is the loving but ineffectual sister. Ralph, the outlaw brother, is the one who gets things done. Margaret can only assert her wishes through manipulation, or an adulterous affair.
It seems here that Collins evolves in his later fiction. Consider the contrast between these characters and Valeria in The Law and the Lady (review). The Victorian structures still exist, but Collins has begun to envision stronger women characters and more creative plot possibilities for them.
If you are a Wilkie Collins fan and have read works like The Moonstone, or The Woman in White, or the above-mentioned The Law and the Lady, you will find this work of interest not only for the themes, but to see the development of Collins's skill. If you are just discovering Collins, one of the first to write in the genre of crime fiction, I would go with either The Moonstone or The Woman in White first, and if you find you like him, then delve into other works, including this, the earliest published of his novels.
November 5, 2025
Many thanks to Wilkie Collins for once again giving me a strange villain + a rambling narrator x
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