Jezebel's Daughter

by Wilkie Collins

How far is a mother prepared to go to secure her daughter's future? Madame Fontaine, widow of an eminent chemist, has both the determination and the cunning to bring young Minna's marriage plans to fruition, with dangerous consequences for anyone who dares to stand in her way. But has she met her match in Jack Straw, one-time inmate of Bedlam lunatic asylum? It will take a visit to the morgue to find out who triumphs - and who comes out alive.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Mystery, Victorian, 19th Century, British Literature, Audiobook

308 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1880

About the author

Wilkie 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.

Reviews

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent, engaging Wilkie Collins, but not one of his masterpieces.

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read more from Wilkie Collins, having loved his two most famous novels. Jezebel's Daughter only came to my notice when it was published by Oxford Press last year. Once more, we are offered a sensational tale featuring a fascinating 'baddie' in the character of Madame Fontaine, and as always the author portays her with redeeming features and with motivations that make sense.

Opposing this mistress of poisons, we have the righteous Mrs. Wagner, fighting to carry on her late husbands ideology, cutting a place in the workplace for women! Yes, the focus is on the plot, with all its thrilling moments, but I enjoyed it, especially the subversive vein of feminism Collins often adds.

[Issicratea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victorian “sensation fiction” is having something of a critical moment, and it’s not difficult to see why. In addition to the cheap thrills that attracted nineteenth-century readers (intricate plots, with liberal doses of sex, violence, mystery, and intrigue), sensation novels have much to recommend them. They are interesting in their genre eclecticism, mixing social realism with melodramatic and romance elements; and they seem often to use this literary no man’s land to explore aspects of Victorian society that more mainstream nineteenth-century fiction was too squeamish to touch.

Jezebel’s Daughter, available since 2016 in a critical edition for the first time, offers a good example of the hidden delights of sensation fiction—and also of Wilkie Collins’s voluminous back catalogue. The novel had an interesting genesis. Collins wrote it first as a play, The Red Vial, performed in 1858, and apparently an abysmal failure. This dispiriting experience must have lurked around unresolved in Collins’s psyche, as he reworked the narrative twenty-two years later in 1880, adapting it to novelistic form.

You can see why when you read it. It’s a cracking story, and it’s thematically interesting and innovative for its time. As ever, with Collins, the female characters are outstanding: not so much the title character, the lovely Minna, who is slightly insipid, as the two wonderfully drawn and contrasted middle-aged widows who dominate the narrative. In the blue corner, we have the English Mrs Wagner, aunt of the narrator, David Glenney: an enormously attractive figure, I felt—a progressive, like her husband, championing the causes of women’s employment and the reform of the treatment of “lunatics,” and feisty enough to face up to the eye-rolling that greets her whenever she speaks of her plans. In the red corner, we have the sinuous and fascinating “Jezebel” herself, Madame Fontaine, wife and heir of a German-based French academic scientist with a side-interest in recreating the poisons used by the Borgias, while guiltily concocting antidotes to them as he goes along.

Another interesting Collinesque feature of the novel is the presence of a disabled protagonist: after the physically disabled Miserrimus Dexter of The Law and the Lady, and the blind characters in The Dead Secret and Poor Miss Finch, we find here a mentally disturbed ex-Bedlam patient, known as Jack Straw, whom Mrs Wagner rescues and attempts to redeem through “care in the community,” as it is now called in modern Britain. I found Jack’s ’umble gratitude and devotion to his patroness rather grating, and I don’t think he works nearly as well as most of Collins’s “outsider” characters. This was one of the reasons why I'd judge this novel as three and a half stars, rather than four, if the Goodreads grading system permitted that nuance.

Still, all in all, a worthwhile and interesting read, and narrated with Collins’s incomparable zest and zip.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightfully fun buddy read with Penny, Stephanie, Dina, and Rebecca for Victober 2025! I'm going to have the spider gif in my head that Penny used for a long time--it made me laugh so hard. Also calling the villainness the Black Widow! I have to say that Wilkie Collins writes an excellent villain. And he seems to write men and women villains with equal brilliance. This is such a fun, twisty turny story with poison, insanity, one super creepy setting, and a very thought-provoking title. I love how Wilkie Collins conveys the dignity of one character in particular. Definitely a standout character and scenario! This is a perfect Wilkie Collins if you want a fast-paced but short sensation novel.

[Jersy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical Wilkie Collins that combines interesting characters, including those who are quite unlikely heroes in Victorian literature, a plot that defies modern genre definitions but comes most closely to a mix of mystery, domestic thriller and family drama, and a compelling way of telling the story. I comes easy to be intruiged and care for the characters. Although it is told through a male perspective, the women of the novel are front and center, portraying different kinds of capable female characters
It seemed like it leaned heavier into the tropes and dramatic style of sensationalism and is a less complex and subtle read than maybe No Name by the same author, but it's very captivating and an absolute blast if you like the genre and/or author. Although there is no mystery regarding who the culprit is, there is always a sense of suspense.

[The Phoenix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf. I couldn't get into it. I'm a little anxious today, so maybe that's why. Not sure.

[Carol Rodríguez · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5. Mi primera novela de Wilkie Collins y me ha gustado, pero estoy convencida de que tiene libros mejores. Este es ligero y entretenido (aunque con unas partes un poco redundantes y alargadas). Para resumir un poco la sensación que me ha dejado diría que, si lo adaptasen, sería un telefilme: una historia que te entretiene en el momento pero que no da para más. También es verdad que resulta todo más que previsible y no he sentido un misterio real; y he encontrado momentos un poco cogidos con pinzas para que encaje todo, pero ya digo, una lectura sencilla y con personajes interesantes.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic sensationalism! It's got the lot! Lunatics, poison, murder, Bedlam, a Deadhouse. A really well paced ride of a read.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

My thanks to Naxos AudioBooks and libro.fm for an ALC of this book to listen to and review.

Warning: Disjointed rant below, enter at your own risk.

I see you Wilkie Collins.

I see you being BFF's with Charles Dickens, the scumbag who tried to have his wife committed to an asylum so he could be with his chicky-bae instead. I'm glad she was able to escape both being committed AND her crappy husband, who ended up with his chicky-bae anyway. Jerks.

Ok, let me back up a bit here. I LOVED the voice narrator for this book. Nicholas Boulton has some CHOPS. British accent and when delivering the parts by the native German speakers, they had a German accent and they all sounded distinct and you could tell who was talking. It was the ONLY good part of this book. The one star is solely for Mr. Boulton.

I was NOT enjoying this book, so rather than force myself to finish listening to this, I looked for synopsis online and found both the ending AND some personal things about Mr. Wilkie Collins, without meaning to. Usually, I can ignore a bad human who writes well, but if I don't like the writing AND they are a bad human, yeah, no, #sorrynotsorry, I'm not ignoring it.

So. What I didn't like about the book was 1) it made the victim the villainess and 2) it had the villainess act in a way that neither she nor ANY woman in 1828 Germany in her position would have done, all to move the plot the way Mr. Wilkie Collins wanted it to.

1828 Germany, woman had little in the way of wealth and power on their own. Usually they derived both through their family before they wed and then their husband's family after they wed. Not getting married without a family to provide for one could very well be a poverty, if not a death sentence, depending on her skill set. Yes, not all women back then were poor, dependent on family/husband or lived in less than positive circumstances, but I would hazard to say a good portion of them did. (Disclaimer: I am not an authority on the 1820s, of any country. If I am wrong, please direct me to books so I can learn more.)

Madame Fonatine came from a high-born family. She married her husband on the belief that he was a doctor and would therefore make money and she would be comfortable. Since she married below her station, against the wish of her father, he disowned her and she was cut off from her family. Her husband then decided to be a college chemistry professor in a podunk little place and he went into debt to fund his chemical experiments. She went into debt to get nice clothes for her and her daughter, the light of her life. She would do ANYthing for her daughter's happiness.

Since she was higher-born than the ladies in the podunk place, she disdained being friendly with them, so rumors of her pride and her debt were spread about by ladies who had nothing better to do with their time.

Her husband died and being left with debt, she cozened an older man to buy up all of her debt into one and she signed an IOU to him. Before he could destroy it, he died and the man who inherited the IOU was a hard man who was going to get what was owed him. She didn't know that until it was too late.

You know who DID know that before it was too late? The narrator of the tale, who DIDN'T TELL HER. He just up and went to England, la-di-da, not my business to tell her something she might want to know.

Anywho, so her daughter fell in love with a young man, who's father was a wealthy business man, with two partners in the business. He heard the rumors about the widow and decided, without getting her side of the story, that while her daughter was a sweet, innocent lady, the mother was a Jezebel and so sorry son, we can't have THAT kind of woman in the family. Find someone else, you aren't marrying her.

Madame Fontaine then abased herself, MULTIPLE times, to try to meet him or send him letters explaining the gossip. He refused all visits and letters. She met his partner Mr. Engleman, who was old, fat and a fool, who was a bachelor until he met her and then he fell in love.

Here is where this book jumps the shark. After things happen, he proposes to her. Yes, he's old and not ideal marriage material, BUT HE IS WEALTHY. And since he is old, he won't last a long time and when he dies, she would get his money. But what does she do?

She spurns him. So badly he leaves and dies of a broken heart. The narrator in England is sad, because Mr. Engleman was his friend, but if he had told the widow about the debt, she would have probably accepted and he would have probably lived longer and died more happy than he ended up doing.

Seriously, what destitute woman in 1828 would have turned down a wealthy older man in his 70-80s, especially when she was in her 30-40s and probably not going to get a better offer???

Not buying it. It doesn't scan.

So I looked up the end and she does more and more things, spiraling out of control, trying to ensure her daughter marries the man she loves. All because she turned down a proposal no woman of that time would have turned down. POPPYCOCK!

Then I found out Mr. Wilkie Collins was never married, BUT he had TWO women, CONCURRENTLY. He had a widow and a Baby Mama, mother of his three children. When he was tired of the widow, he went to Baby Mama. When he was tired of her, he went to the widow.

Must be nice to be a man in the late 1800s. Those poor women weren't forced, but were they? What sort of life could they have without a man in the picture, even if he was only there part-time?

So yeah, I rage purged all of my Wilkie Collins books (only two, but it was like three to four inches on my Classics bookcase, so #WINNING) and I won't be reading him anymore. He treats his female characters as if they are the bad guys and has them do things no sane woman of the time would have done, so I'm OUT.

1, this star is only for the voice narrator, stars.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coincidence

… looms large in Wilkie Collins’s novel Jezebel’s Daughter (1880), making sure that chance discoveries of old and recent crimes will abound – but when you read Collins, or any of his other Victorian sensational-novel writing colleagues, you will simply have to accept that coincidences occur (as in fact they do in our daily lives), often when the writer is at a loss as to how to link two characters or how to prepare the ground for an important revelation. However, if Agatha Christie could get away with her far-fetched and implausible plots, Wilkie Collins and the Victorians are definitely entitled to any claim of leniency since all of them together have probably not ridden as hard and ruthlessly on the Horse of Coincidence and endangered its backbone to such an extent as the “Queen of Crime”.

In Jezebel’s Daughter Collins introduces us to Madame Fontaine, an ambitious, yet impoverished widow who would do anything to ensure her daughter’s happiness in life, which she sees in a marriage with the son of the rich Frankfort merchant Herr Keller. With Mrs. Wagner, the author also creates another widow, this time not of the deadly and malicious sort, but an apt businesswoman who also acts as a philanthropist and strives to pave the way into business life for other women as well by employing both men and women in equal positions in her business. As a philanthropist, Mrs. Wagner follows her late husband’s plan of showing that mentally disturbed people can be cured or at least improved by kindness rather than a system of constraints, which leads her to looking after a patient called Jack Straw, who – and here he have one of Collins’s coincidences – will later prove an old acquaintance of Madame Fontaine’s. Collins unfolds a story of crime, deception and retribution, which quickly hooks the readers – at least it did hook me, and I was very disappointed with Armadale, which I found plodding and rambling – and makes them want to read on. The story develops at a swift pace, which might be to the detriment of a more credible characterization of some of the minor characters.

It was also strange to have the first-person narrator, Mrs. Wagner’s nephew David, suddenly withdraw from the story and see an omniscient narrator take over, but that was probably because Collins could see no way of keeping David around as a witness to the events that were going to unfold.

In a nutshell: The story rests on some coincidences, but it is a good yarn; and there are some memorable characters like Jack Straw, the self-confident and clever Mrs. Wagner, or the scheming Madame Fontaine. Collins, unlike Dickens, managed to create interesting female protagonists, and he clearly wanted to attach a social message to his novel, which he manages to do without unduly slowing down the pace of his novel or directing the reader’s attention to lengthy side issues. All this makes Jezebel’s Daughter, probably not a literary masterpiece, but a very entertaining sensational novel.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jezebel’s Daughter is definitely not one of Wilkie’s best works, but its is still thoroughly enjoyable.

As a note to first time readers: if you want the plot to remain a mystery DO NOT look up the infamous serial killer they mention. I did, and it gave the whole thing away entirely.

Regardless, I think you’ll be able to figure out the resolution a bit sooner than Wilkie intended. Jezebel may be one of his most overtly nefarious characters, and she was enjoyable, but erratic. I did fully enjoy the cast of strong female characters, and I also enjoyed the creation of Jack Straw.

Still there were times that it seemed to drag; the narrative and conversation both seemed a little forced. None of the characters were as fully flushed out as Wilkie usually does, and that was a bit disappointing to me. These things led to the three-star rating, though I hope that wouldn’t discourage any lovers of Victorian literature from indulging in a relatively quick read.

[Mary Ronan Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, Wilkie Collins, a writer who can be counted on to put the sensation in sensational fiction. Nefarious doings including lying, cheating, and stealing. The theft of money from a locked desk, mysterious illnesses, deaths, and recoveries. The return of a body to life while in the Death House, poisons, a cypher, lovers kept apart by their families, a mad man, and at the end a wedding, the bride and groom in which the reader is invited to guess. Too much.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Wilkie Collins banger! While it doesn't have the depth and humor of his earlier works, it is really fast-paced, full of twists, and perfectly morbid for this time of year. I highly recommend it if you're hankering for a shorter Collins read.

I rate the group reading experience I had with my lovely reading buddies five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Rachel Std · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es la primera obra que leo del autor, y he de reconocer que no está nada mal, hay enredos, embrollos, venenos, suspense, y para mi gusto, demasiadas vueltas a una historia que se ha terminado estirando como un chicle, y no le veía la necesidad a tanto alargar la agonía. La lectura se hace bastante fluida ya que los capítulos son cortos y está bien escrito, eso si que se agradece.

[Sonu · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Collins is known for, very interesting characters and story, and he portraits women in a way😅.

Story about Mrs. Fountain and her daughter Minna.
How Madame Fountain throughs the dice in order to get approval for her daughter's marriage with Fritz, whose father disproves marriage between Minna and Fritz and more.

Loved it.

[Penny -Thecatladybooknook · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded to 4 stars

Wow what a ride! If you're a Wilkie fan, I highly recommend giving this book a try!

We start the story with David who is the nephew of Mrs. Wagner. He is telling us the story of what happened after his uncle passed and Mrs. Wagner took over his position in the company he owned with two other businessmen. Mr. Keller (one of the businessmen) has a son, Fritz, who is engaged to Meena Fontaine, but because of something M. Fontaine has alledgedly done, he refuses to allow Fritz to marry Meena so he has come to the London office with Mrs. Wagner to work. It takes off from here and he will keep you guessing until the very end.

My only complaint was one chapter toward the end where it was atmospheric but one of the characters kept going on and on and on and then when you find out what happens and by whom, it felt like that character had played detective and was wrapping everything up as some detective novels do where they have to piece it together for you. In this instance, I could have used another few chapters with more of the "showing" vs the "telling" from that character.

I had a ball with the ladies in the group read of this....we were messaging all the time trying to piece things together to figure who did what when and why.

[Viv JM]

DNF @ 82 pages. I just couldn't get into this. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date...

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down.

When it comes to Victorian gothic sensationalism, it is hard to beat Wilke Collins. He can create an atmosphere that seems spookily real, in this case complete with a villainess who freezes your blood, a deformed madman released from Bedlam, and a narrator who begs to be slapped, or at least shaken, for his naivety. His plots are ingenuous, complicated and suspenseful.

Part of the narrative for this story takes place in the “deadhouse”, where bodies are taken, attached to a pulley system with a bell, and left for a period of time in order to prevent premature burial. The description of this place is detailed and quite chilling. One of the fascinating things about reading novels from this era is exploring the way conventions and practices have changed over the years. It is difficult to imagine that there were no funeral homes, people were often embalmed in the kitchen or bedroom of their own home, and the only way any investigation into the death was ordered was if the attending doctor reported a suspicious circumstance.

The main characters in this tale are two women, Madam Fontaine, a charming German femme fatale, and Mrs. Wagner, a solid British widow, who means to expand the opportunities for women in her late husband’s business and reform the cruel mental health system that consists of throwing anyone labeled “mad” into a cell with chains and guards with whips.

I thought, when reading the following quote, that Collins might have discovered part of the key to good and evil.

The better we are, the more unselfishly we are interested in others. The worse we are, the more inveterately our interest is concentrated on ourselves.

Certainly, it is evident that this self-concern is part of what makes Madam Fontaine such a believably bad woman, but in true Collins style, she shows the presence of some redeeming qualities, not the least of which is her love for her daughter. Without those moments when it is clear that even Madam Fontaine understands that she is vile, the novel would risk turning into a melodrama.

This novella will not rival Collins best works, The Moonstone and The Woman in White, but it is a worthy and enjoyable read and the perfect break if you want, or need, to get lost in the pages of a book.

[denudatio_pulpae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kobieta zdeprawowana czy zdesperowana?

Madame Fontaine nie bez powodu nazywana była Izebel. Podstępna kobieta potrafiła kryć się ze swoim prawdziwym charakterem, jeżeli było to akurat dla niej konieczne. Plotki jednak mimo to krążyły, a część ludzi nie chciała mieć z nią nic wspólnego. Dla niej samej nie był to wielki problem, ale zła opinia mogła pokrzyżować korzystne plany matrymonialne jej córki, Minny. Córka była jej oczkiem w głowie, to dla niej gotowa była na największe poświęcenia, nawet jeżeli oznaczałoby to ofiary w ludziach. Matczyna miłość, czy już obłęd?

Zajmujące studium szaleństwa kobiety, która przekroczywszy ostatnią granicę, nie mogła już zawrócić z drogi swojego upadku. Kłamstwa, podejrzenia, fałsz i złe intencje. Dziwię się tylko, że córka niczego nie podejrzewała, miłość bywa ślepa, nawet ta do matki.
8/10

[Ana Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 🌟Mi primer Collins y me ha gustado bastante. Aunque la trama tiene poco misterio y es bastante simple porque se sabe lo que hay desde el principio, no sé porqué ni cómo pero te mantiene enganchada a sus páginas y es entretenido.
Bravo por la crítica social que hace se la época, la crítica al trato a los enfermos mentales y el punto feminista que tiene con respecto al empleo laboral femenino.
Me han quedado ganas de leer algo más del autor.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not Collins's best.

[Breanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! This is by far my favorite by Collins, although The Woman in White is a close second!

[Agnieszka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not an expert on Wilkie Collins but I believe Jezebel’s daughter is his rather lesser known novel. And probably not the best either but enjoyed it a lot. It follows fates of two widowed women, one in Germany, the other one in England. As many Victorian novels from the era we have mystery here, a criminal intrigue and love story. The author accentuates some social aspects as well, to mention only rights to work for women policy or treatment of mentally disabled persons and state of public institutions where they were cured. Jezebel’s daughter clashes attitudes of two main protagonists and though both were fueled by deep love and compassion however they acted with different means and to the opposite effects. All in all, a very enjoyable reading. But I guess I’m yet to meet Collins' best works.

3,5/5

[Alberto Delgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilkie Collins se merece sin duda el reconocimiento de ser uno de los creadores de la novela negra y en esta muestra vuelve a conseguir a pesar de haber 140 años de distancia desde su escritura que cualquiera lector del 2017 disfrute leyendo esta obra. En el libro nos encontramos una trama deliciosa donde el misterio de lo que ocurre es obvio desde el principio pero eso no hace que su lectura sea menos apetecible y culmina con un final tremendo. Por cierto muy buena edición de alba con una portada muy bonita.

[Ceri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was slightly disappointed by this book as the premise was so intriguing, but I felt like its best bits were showcased on the blurb. It was lacklustre and fairly monotonous. Although, I did enjoy the character development of Jack Straw in contrast to Madame Fontaine's increasingly desperate antics. It was refreshing to read a novel set against the backdrop of 1820s Frankfurt, which housed an array of fascinating characters. Not a favourite of mine, but worth the read.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, fun, and dramatic. Liked the focus on women and their roles/power, will to get what they want. Classic Wilkie to have so much poison and madness !!

[Lobo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pod względem konstrukcyjnym to najsłabsza powieść Collinsa, jaką do tej pory czytałam. Pierwsza część ma charakter sprawozdania uczestnika wydarzeń z pewnych wypadków i okoliczności związanych z wprowadzeniem wdowy Fontaine do domu pana Kellera, które to wydarzenia są dość skomplikowane, biorąc pod uwagę, że pan Keller był bardzo przeciwny małżeństwu swojego syna z córką wody - tytułową córką Izabel. Wilkie zwykle bardzo skrupulatnie trzyma się narracyjnych strategii uwierzytelniających, prezentując dzienniki, listy, sprawozdania i punkty widzenia postaci biorących udział w wydarzeniach. W drugiej części od tego odchodzi, ze szkodą dla napięcia, bo wchodzi wszechwiedzący narrator, informuje nas o stanach emocjonalnych i przemyśleniach wszystkich, nie zostawia miejsca na niedopowiedzenie, napięcie i tajemnice. I chociaż sprawa wdowy zawiera w sobie przynajmniej dwa otrucia, kradzież i fałszerstwo, od początku wiemy, kto, jak i dlaczego, pozostaje nam czekać aż złapią winnego. Do galerii osobliwości Collinsa dołącza teraz Słomiany Jack, szaleniec zwolniony z Bedlam, znacznie bardziej prostolinijny i mniej interesujący niż jego odpowiednicy w innych powieściach. Czyta się bardzo szybko, wypadki postępują błyskawicznie, ale brakowało mi napięcia. To nie ten sam Collins co w "Kobiecie w bieli".

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

"An educated criminal is almost invariably an inveterate egotist. We are all interesting to ourselves - but the more vile we are, the more intensely we are absorbed in ourselves. The very people who have, logically speaking, the most indisputable interest in concealing their crimes, are also the very people who, almost without exception, yield to the temptation of looking at themselves in the pages of a Diary."

Another sensational story by Collins! I was particularly fascinated by Madame Fontaine's deadly ambitious to unlock the mysteries of life and death through the use of medicinal poisons and antidotes. There is this fantastic scene where she raves about having "Life and Death" as her servants, where Collins also describes her as briefly appearing as "a demon in human form". It is so immensely dramatic and intense, I love it. Her characterization and especially how she progresses throughout the story is so well done, she is a real rival for Lydia Gwilt in terms of my favourite female villain in Collins's fiction.

The story is, likely because I have also read over half his books now, quite predictable but that does not matter in the slightest. With Madame Fontaine at the centre and other great side characters, like Jack Straw, this book is up there with some of his best work. It has even inspired a whole new area of research for me!

[blanka_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

To było idealne!

[Inés · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5 ⭐️