The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

We've reached the end of No Name.

Why did Old Mazey let Magdalen go? Are you satisfied with his explanation? What were the consequences of Mazey "deserting his post."

What did you think of the book overall?

Were you satisfied with how things were wrapped up?

How does this book compare with others you've read by Collins?

I found it surprisingly compelling. It wasn't at all obvious how things would go. There were multiple strong female characters. All those things apply to The Woman in White as well.

It was awfully convenient how Noel was disposed of, but good riddance!

I so agree, Robin about Noel!

I haven’t finished it yet, but wasn’t Old Mazey supposed to be guarding the Admiral during his the night,due to his sleepwalking?
Perhaps he didn’t want to give himself away- also was he supposed to be easing off his drinking and wasn’t he up to imbibe? I might be wrong on the details.

This is my second favourite Collins novel after The Woman in White. For me it has everything. Action, tension, amazing characters, unexpected twists and turns, multiple fascinating locations and brilliant descriptions of events and places. I am amazed that there has never been any attempts to adapt it into a film or for TV. Apparently there has been one adaptation for the stage which met with mixed reviews and the BBC have attempted one radio adaptation of the book in 2014.

Magdalen herself remains close to the top of my list of favourite Victorian female characters, alongside others like Helen Graham (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,) Esther Lyon (Felix Holt: The Radical,) and Diana Tempest (Diana Tempest.) Her feisty, go it alone attitude must have shocked many of the readers of the time. However, I did feel that Collins made a mistake at the end when he allowed Captain Kirke to rescue her from almost certain death. Surely after all her efforts, she deserved to come out on top without having to be saved by a love struck beau. Also, his chance meeting with her in a squalid London slum was not very credible.

So, whilst the book was compulsive reading all the way through, I was less satisfied with the ending. However, the irony of Norah inheriting the fortune through marriage was a good twist and Magdalen did deserve some happiness after all the trials and tribulations she had suffered.

One other issue I had was with how some of the unsavoury characters came out smelling of roses so to speak. Captain Wragge, Mrs. Lecont and Frank Clare all ended up more than comfortably off despite being the cause of some of Magdalen’s greatest pains. Although Wragge may have been a reluctant helper of Magdalen, his actions almost contributed to her death.

Having mentioned a few negatives, it is a novel I would recommend to anyone wanting to experience Collins close to his best. I have read it a couple of times before, yet it still felt compelling from start to finish. Even better reading it with this group, responding to Lori’s prompts and enjoying all the interesting comments.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. I don't dislike it, but yeah, maybe she should have had a more triumphant ending. But it's also true that she deserved to be taken care of after having to take care of herself for three years.

I actually haven't read the Woman in White yet, though I have a copy. The Moonstone was my first Collins novel, and it might be my favorite for now.

Trev, thanks for all the interesting points you’ve made. However serendipitous, I think Magdalen was so very sick that she’s lucky Captain Kirke showed up when he did. He really took the situation by the reins & made sure she was returned to health.
If you look up tenacious in the dictionary there will be a picture of Magdalen. Do or die - she was determined not to let Noel Van Stone steal the inheritance left to Nora & herself.

I didn’t mind his help- although wasn’t it a little murky as to why he was in that area at all. I remember he got lost & got some poor directions- but did they say what the purpose of his trip was?
She had been so strong for so long at great personal risk that I do think it was another facet of her character and that she was willing to accept help. Not that she had a choice. But in that neighborhood, it’s shocking that she received much help
as it seems no one has any extra funds.

I was hoping to see her interact with Kirke’s sister & nephew since Collin’s spent some time on developing the Captain’s backstory.

I was thinking Collins had written Lady Audrey’s secret, but I see it was penned by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

I’m thinking of reading the Woman in White. I’ve seen sensational novels described as having horror elements. I hope that one doesn’t have that element or supernatural themes. I don’t care for either or those.
The Woman in White brings to mind a ghost…

I quite liked Captain Wragge. Of course he was a scoundrel, but he admitted it and he came to have a grudging respect for Magdalen.

i agree this could be a great TV series, plenty of cliffhangers. And some great parts for actors. Too complicated for a 2-hour movie.

I agree with Robin about Wragge- although I think it was than just respect. I think he came to have feelings for her as a niece (in reality, a quasi relative, if you may recall) and truly care about her well-being. It’s hard to know if, within that time period when all sorts of purported cures abounded, how much he knew that these pills likely couldn’t do all of or anything that he professed they could.
Do you all think he had any thoughts that they might do Magdalen any harm?
The idea that Mrs Wragge’s figure had transformed from wasting away into the big-boned lady of size was laughable. Probably more funny at the time, when folks didn’t realize the potential danger of taking an unknown substance.
In the population of people who thought the pills helped them, perhaps they felt better from their maladies simply from a placebo effect.

Mrs, Wragge was a fascinating character. Dickens also has some "simple-minded" characters, but she seemed more complex and had an interesting combination of strengths and weaknesses.

I think Mrs Wragge cared very much for Magdalen & appreciated the way she had shown the Mrs respect. Magdalen may likely have been one of the only people who listened to her and did some small kindnesses for her.
Despite being so courageous when it came to risking her safety for the sake of her mission, I could tell from the first time they met that she didn’t like how Capt W treated his wife. She was very tender to Mrs Wragge. Collins showed us this softer side of Magdalen we didn’t see much of after she left home via her relationship with Mrs Wragge.
Did you all notice how the character of Mrs W blossomed from seeming to be a person of low IQ, to someone capable of making a dress from scratch? I think Collins was showing just how much her behavior was a self fulfilling prophecy based on how her husband treated her.
And I was a little disappointed that she & Magdalen didn’t get to see each other again, especially after her engagement. I hope they can correspond in the future.

Overall, do you see Magdalen as heroine, or misguided young girl with a lot of confidence in doing what she felt needed to be done, in the only way she could see to achieve it?
I’m really curious to see how others viewed her.

🐶 Amy Beagle Mom x2 🐶 wrote: "Overall, do you see Magdalen as heroine, or misguided young girl with a lot of confidence in doing what she felt needed to be done, in the only way she could see to achieve it?
I’m really curious t..."

I don't think those 2 things are mutually exclusive. Her stubbornness and resourcefulness were sometimes misguided but she never gave up.

Robin P wrote: "I don't think those 2 things are mutually exclusive. Her stubbornness and resourcefulness were sometimes misguided but she never gave up."

I agree. She never gave up on what she and her sister should, by any definition besides the narrow legal one of the time, have had.

I always kind of figured she should have made back all her money by acting, but then that wouldn't have been the same story, and probably not one as interesting to readers (and her miserly relatives would have still had her father's actual money). Yes, her sister lost a job because of Magdalen's acting, but was there a way to get around that? Was there a way for a young girl with no living parents to have a profitable acting career that would be considered respectable at that time? If not, could she have gone somewhere where word would not have gotten back to anyone connected with Norah?

Unlike Trollope, who often commented to the reader about who is the hero/heroine of his novels, Collins leaves it up to us to decide. I think that she is the stand out character and would do very well under scrutiny as a modern day heroine. Her will to right a wrong drove her on but, even though she used deception, her conscience
never allowed her to stray into the realms of absolute illegality.
I think that rather than being misguided, Magdalen was a victim of her own inexperience of the world.

I would have preferred Kirke to have helped Magdalen at an earlier stage of the plot so that she didn’t have to rely on Wragge. However Kirke would have made sure that her marriage to Noel never took place and the story might have veered into an entirely different direction.

Trev wrote: "Unlike Trollope, who often commented to the reader about who is the hero/heroine of his novels, Collins leaves it up to us to decide. I think that she is the stand out character and would do very w..."

Yeah, that's one reason I often prefer Collins to Trollope and Dickens. I think his characters are more complex, especially his female characters. Especially compared to Dickens. Trollope was quite a bit better in allowing the women in his stories to be human. But Collins could go darker than Trollope in that department.

Good point, Lori. I really liked the fact that Magdalen had a dark side. She starts out seeming like a simple, self-centered teenager but has so much depth.