The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

We are getting closer to the end, but there is still plenty of time left for twists and turns!

What was your opinion of Magdalen's conduct in the early part of this section? Why did she read the execution notice with such interest? Were you worried she would use the laudanum?

We also meet the Bertrams. What will come of their involvement?

Lecount has proven Magdalen's identity to Noel. What do you think will happen next?

The laudanum is still there. Will it be used? For whom?

This book is surprisingly unpredictable for a 19th century novel.

My guess is that Norah will marry George Bertram and eventually inherit all the money she should have had. Madeline will die from some illness or accident but have a touching farewell scene with Norah. Frank will return, having improbably made a fortune overseas, but he will be too late.

Robin P wrote: "This book is surprisingly unpredictable for a 19th century novel.

My guess is that Norah will marry George Bertram and eventually inherit all the money she should have had. Madeline will die from..."

Those were about my thoughts at this point, too. Judging from the other Collins books I've read, I'd expect someone to have a relatively happy ending, but not everyone. I'd expect one main character to die. He doesn't seem to be quite as dire as Hardy, but less optimistic than Dickens.

This was a very dark section indeed, with the spectre of the ‘POISON’ bottle always seeming to be lurking in the background.

Magdalen’s emotional turmoil leading up to her decision to go ahead with the marriage was hard for me to read. She saw it as the only way to revenge herself and her sister, yet it was tearing her apart to do it. She came very close to killing herself more than once but it was thinking of others that stopped her.

Of course she was blinkered regarding the damage being done to Noel and Lecount who have both become weaker and scarred for life. But the strength left in Lecount seemed to be all directed towards stopping Magdalen from achieving her goal.

Captain Wragge showed some remorse, but not enough to prevent the marriage, lose his £200 and fail to write down anything in his transactions ledger.

Regarding the final chapter of this section, It seemed very convenient that Magdalen had decided to leave for the week, thus paving the way for Lecount to get at Noel and retake control of him. I expected more of a confrontation between Magdalen and Lecount and this weak contrivance in the plot disappointed me.

George Bertram’s interest in Norah was actually a more convincing part of the plot. One of those chance meetings in life that become advantageous to both parties. One of the clever parts of this intricate story is how Magdalen’s dearest friends and family have unwittingly helped her enemies. Both Norah and Miss Garth have contributed to Lecount’s relentless quest to expose Magdalen as an imposter.

For those who have read The Dead Secret published in 1857, I think there are some similarities between Magdalen and Rosamund Treverton, except that Magdalen seems to be a supercharged version of Rosamund. Collins seems to have borrowed some of Rosamond's personality traits, multiplied them by a factor of ten and added more dare and self destructive tendencies.

Now that Noel is back in the clutches of Lecount, I fear for Magdalen. Her emotional excitability might force her to do something desperate.

This section was hard for me to read too.

I was also expecting a confrontation between Magdalen and Lecount, especially considering Collins' usual preference for highly dramatic scenes.

There were incidents where I was a bit disappointed in Norah and Mrs. Garth's perceptive abilities and/or discretion. They were too willing, on more than one occasion, to give information that should have been withheld. (And that flier near the beginning of the book -- I understand that they were worried, but it really was rather insulting.)

I have not read that book. I will have to look it up.

Lori, I so agree with you about Norah & Mrs Garth being so open with information.
Then again, they haven’t had the benefit of all the media exposure which is part of our life experience where people have been taken advantage of when they shared knowledge in error. And since they are women living in that time period, their lifestyle has been so different from men’s at the time. If those two could be transported to the 21st century, I suspect their naïveté would render them shocked them to see how freely we live and all the freedoms we enjoy.