VICTOBER 2025 discussion

Kate’s challenge: Read a Victorian sensation novel

What are you planning on reading? Any recommendations?

I'm super hyped to read Aurora Floyd...the question is: do I pick it up first or save it for last??

Any sensational Trollope, Katie? Dickens?

I'm not 100% decided yet but I may read The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins and/or Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

I'm thinking Aurora Floyd. If anyone likes Thomas Hardy I think Desperate Remedies is a great sensation novel.

Allen wrote: "Any sensational Trollope, Katie? Dickens?"

So, no sensation Trollopes really that I can think of - it's not really his style. Dickens is a bit more complicated - I'm not sure how neatly they fall into the genre, but you could probably make the argument that Great Expectations and The Mystery of Edwin Drood are sensation novels?

I’m thinking of East Lynn by Mrs. Henry Wood, or Lady Audley’s secret by Mary Elisabeth Braddon, or The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

I'm thinking of reading No Name by Wilkie Collins. Not sure how sensational it is, but I figured Wilkie Collins is a pretty safe bet, and I already own a copy of it =)

I'm thinking to read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins since I have the book for a long time in my shelf =)

I think I'm going to reread The Woman in White for this one!

Excited to read Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Brandon for this one. It’s been on my TBR for a long time and it will be good to get to it!

Thanks, Katie

I want to read The Woman in White as I believe that this is a sensation work, but I am scared of starting off with this book as it seems to be very popular and I don't want to be disappointed as this would be my first Wilkie Collins work. I am going to do some research and see if I can find anything that is a sensation work from the Victorian period that is currently on my shelves.

I think Ellen Wood's East Lynne sounds just about sensational enough for this challenge!

I have a few big books on my tbr for the month but if I can fit another book in I will read East lynne for this challenge

So, according to some research I've done, there's a few books I can read for this prompt- and as I have all of them, I have no idea what to read. So, I will just post the titles here and see if others in this thread have read them or can advise me on how to narrow down what I want to read as I definitely can't read all of them within the span of a month.

So according to a website that I've looked at, it lists Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Woman in White and the Moonstone both by Wilkie Collins, and Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

I don't know if In a Glass Darkly by J. Sheridan Le Fanu is considered a sensation work. Does anybody know? Depending on the website I look at, there's different titles and authors mentioned.

This is a book I had intended to read two years ago but didn't: Lady Audley's Secret!

Does Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu count as a sensation novel?

I was thinking of reading Trilby, but I am not sure that really counts as a sensation novel. I might read East Lynne. I have already read The Woman in White and Lady Audley's Secret; East Lynne would complete the trilogy. George Gissing wrote in his diary that it was "not at all a bad book, of its sort".

Lee wrote: "Does Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu count as a sensation novel?"

I have no idea. I don't know if people answer anything in these threads... :(

Lee wrote: "Does Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu count as a sensation novel?"
Personally I'd have said not. It's more lezzy vampirism. Nothing wrong with that, but sensation novels are more about bigamy, murder and secret identities.

There is an interesting episode of BBC's In Our Time that covers sensation novels:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005...
Just a warning that it does include some spoilers, particularly for East Lynne and Lady Audley's Secret.

Tiffany wrote: "So, according to some research I've done, there's a few books I can read for this prompt- and as I have all of them, I have no idea what to read. So, I will just post the titles here and see if oth..."

Tiffany wrote: "I don't know if In a Glass Darkly by J. Sheridan Le Fanu is considered a sensation work. Does anybody know? Depending on the website I look at, there's different titles and authors mentioned."

Le Fanu's Wikipedia page lists some of his work by genre. In a Glass Darkly, which includes Carmilla, is gothic horror and mystery but not sensation. However, 10 titles are listed as sensation and several of those are available on Project Gutenberg.

For this challenge, I will be reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It fulfills 3 prompts: #1 sensation, #2 countryside, and #3 popular. Additionally, it is a Gothic and epistolary novel, which fulfills 2 more of my current interests.

I highly recommend Lady Audley's Secret.

I am surprised Great Expectations is listed as a sensation novel. There is a secret in it, and a fair bit of melodrama, but there is no bigamy, blackmail, secret identities, sending people to the madhouse or murder. Well, Compeyson did get his towards the end of the book, but that does not count. I can't even recall any adultery. It seems more a book about Pip's deep-rooted psychological problems.

Kevin wrote: "I am surprised Great Expectations is listed as a sensation novel. There is a secret in it, and a fair bit of melodrama, but there is no bigamy, blackmail, secret identities, sending people to the m..."
What about the revelation of Estella's identity?

Salem Chapel by Margaret Oliphant has a sensation subplot.

Kathy wrote: "What about the revelation of Estella's identity?
"

Oh yes, there is that. Still, it's a minor plot point.

I chose the Woman in White for this challenge.

Hello!! For This challenge i’m thinking to choose Wilkie Collins, but i’m in between no name or The black robe.

I read No Name last year & it was very gripping &I enjoyed it very much & hope to read another of his books this year! Sheila

I'll be reading The Trail of the Serpent by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. It was her first novel and was titled Three Times Dead and it didn't do well. She rewrote it after the success of her more famous novels and changed the title to The Trail of the Serpent. I have the copy with the Sarah Waters introduction and she says this book fits with the "sensational" novel description. If I don't like it I'll switch to Lady Audley's Secret.

As a sensation novel, I've chosen The Shadow of a Crime [1885] by Caine Hall. I don't actually know what the novel is about. I don't want to look it up too much and spoil the plot, but the title suggests sensation so I think it'll be alright. I looked up the author though and he was very interesting.

Caine Hall grew up in a working class area of Liverpool and only spent four years at school before starting work as an apprentice architect. Hall's mother was a seamstress and his father was a blacksmith from the Isle of Man, where Hall later lived for many years and where he set many of his novels.

Hall was internationally famous in both Britain and America, he was mobbed on the streets of New York by fans. Bram Stocker dedicated 'Dracula' to his 'dear friend Hommy-Beg' (this was a family nickname meaning 'Little Tommy' in Manx). Maxim Gorky had a party in 1906 to which he invited the the top writers of day; H.G Wells, Bernard Shaw, Henry James and Thomas Hardy were among the assemblage and yet he was disappointed that Caine Hall did not come. Hall's 1897 novel The Christian was the first novel to sell over a million copies.

Journalists frequently compared him to famous European writers, the newspaper Sunday Words ran a cover feature on ‘Hall Caine, The English Victor Hugo’. He was also compared with Tolstoy. Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the Isle of Man, the first British monarchs to ever go to the Island. Their interest in the Island had come from reading Hall's books. While they we're there they visited him and invited him back to their yacht for a sail round the Island. An airport was named after Hall and a 200ft long cave in Iceland. Many of his novels were made into films.

In 1892 Hall went to Russia at the request of a committee headed by Hermann Adler, (the British Chief Rabbi ), in response to the pogroms and persecution of Jewish people to report on the conditions of the Jews on the western Borderlands. Hall funded the trip himself, refusing subsidies offered by the committee.

Although, not everyone liked Hall's books. G.K Chesterton in 'A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls' writes " the objection brought by magistrates, has nothing to do with literary merit. Bad story writing is not a crime. Mr. Hall Caine walks the streets openly, and cannot be put in prison for an anticlimax." (I don't think Tolstoy was a fan either).

How strange that he has been forgotten! I've tried to find out why this was, some suggest "in comparison with Dickens, his characters are not clearly drawn, they are "frequently fuzzy at the edges" while Dickens' characters are "diamond-clear"; and Caine's characters also tend to be much the same as each other. Something similar could also be said about his plots. Possibly the main drawback is that although Caine's books can be romantic and emotionally moving, they lack humour; they are deadly earnest and serious" . The Manx literature website think that it was because his novels were 'old fashioned' to 20th century readers and that because some Manx characters in his novels included "immoral drunkards and women capable of sleeping with a man without having married him." , this lead to the Manx distancing themselves from Hall and emphasising his English birth. I was surprised that the Manx literature website did not mention more of the amazing life Hall lead.

None of his novels are in print (only print on demand). Perhaps we need a Virago press or a Persephone books for men to rediscover male authors that have been forgotten. After all, why not?

Sobriquet wrote: "As a sensation novel, I've chosen The Shadow of a Crime [1885] by Caine Hall. I don't actually know what the novel is about. I don't want to look it up too much and spoil the plot, but the title su..."
Sounds interesting. Never heard of him.

So originally I was going to read Lady Audley's Secret as it has been on my TBR every year I have done Victober. (I think this is year 4 or 5 for me.)

When I was going through my shelves, I saw a copy of The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins. It sounds so good, and I want to start it right now. I did not love The Woman in White, but I wanted to give Collins another chance.

Other options I might read: East Lynne, Sylvia's Lovers, A Welsh Witch, and The Doctor's Wife (but I believe their are spoilers in this for a book I still want to read.)

AllisonLL wrote: "I am reading Thomas Hardy's Desperate Remedies. I am really looking forward to this. I figure Thomas Hardy bringing his B game has to be better than most novels."

I'll be reading this as well; it was his first published novel, so I guess I can cut him some slack.

I was wondering if I could use Dracula for this challenge?

I'm stretching it a bit but I'm using Great Expectations for this prompt.

I think I'm going to go for East Lynne by Ellen Wood for this one.

I have read No Name and can attest that it is indeed a sensation novel. It is also a gripping read.

Sobriquet wrote: "As a sensation novel, I've chosen The Shadow of a Crime [1885] by Caine Hall. I don't actually know what the novel is about. I don't want to look it up too much and spoil the plot, but the title su..."

Check out Project Gutenberg quite a few of Caine Hall's works are available on there.

Lorri wrote: "For this challenge, I will be reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It fulfills 3 prompts: #1 sensation, #2 countryside, and #3 popular. Additionally, it is a Gothic and epistolary novel, w..."

I still plan to read the sensation novel, The Woman in White. However, I am no longer certain WW is set in the country although one setting is the city of London. I will contrast this city setting with the rural setting in Tess for Katie's challenge.

I will also be reading the gothic sensation novel Sylvia's Lovers.

Martin wrote: "I have read No Name and can attest that it is indeed a sensation novel. It is also a gripping read."

Good to know! Makes me excited to start it today =D

Lady Audley’s secret is a great choice!

But I’ve started Wilkie Collins ‘The Law and the Lady’. It’s good a very readable style and the story is through Valeria’s perspective. I’m really liking it :)

I'm reading the group challenge book and was going to read Paris mysteries by Eugene Sue .

Hey everyone! This is my first Victober and I picked The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins for this challenge.

I've now read Armadale for this one.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished Lady Audley's Secret last night. Quite the page-turner!

(view spoiler)[Was anybody else expecting Lady Audley/Helen Talboys to have swapped places with Phoebe? MEB drove home the similarity of their appearance. She was veiled for part of the journey to the Belgian asylum. I was expecting Lady Audley to be "in the wind." (hide spoiler)]

I'm reading Jezebel's Daughter by Wilkie Collins for this challenge. Loving how many are reading Wilkie Collins for this challenge, large majority of his works are sensation novels.

Yesterday, I finished The Woman in White. I found it uneven and predictable. Of course, nothing beats the gold standard of Lady Audley's Secret!