Wilkie Collins
5) Armadale
If you can't get enough of classic British mystery novels, dive into this spine-tingling tale of mistaken identity penned by Wilkie Collins, the author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The tale, told partly through letters and documents, recounts the intertwined lives and fates of two distant cousins who both happen to bear the name 'Allan Armadale.'
During his lifetime, British fiction writer Wilkie Collins came to rival Charles Dickens in popularity and critical acclaim. Like Dickens, Collins often gravitated toward characters who overcame significant obstacles to learn important life lessons. The novella The Guilty River continues in this vein, recounting an against-all-odds love affair that blossoms between a couple that each hail from a different social caste.
Regarded as one of the finest storytellers of the Victorian era, Wilkie Collins was able to inject realism and insightful commentary into his tales without detracting at all from their page-turning readability. In the tightly plotted novel The New Magdalen, Collins takes on several weighty social issues that give readers a fascinating glimpse into life in nineteenth-century Britain.
A British attorney nearly dead from stress, exhaustion, and overwork ventures to America to spend some time recuperating at the quaint country farmhouse of a relative. Sounds like a pastoral paradise, right? Well, before long, the protagonist is thrown into the midst of a bizarre murder case. Will he be able to unravel the mystery before it's too late?
In addition to his reputation as one of the important early innovators in the genre of detective fiction, Wilkie Collins is recognized as being one of the first writers to feature female sleuths in his stories. In The Law and the Lady, Collins' heroine succeeds in cracking a tough case that has left professional investigators stumped.
10) No Name
11) The Frozen Deep
Written in an intense creative collaboration with Charles Dickens, who was one of the author's dearest friends, The Frozen Deep is a dramatic interpretation of the Franklin expedition, an ill-fated journey in search of the Northwest Passage that was undertaken by a large group of explorers and researchers. The ultimate fate of the men on the voyage was never ascertained, and this gripping play represents one imagined outcome to the tragic
...12) A Rogue's Life
Charming and intelligent but somewhat lacking in the purpose and dedication departments, protagonist Frank Softly just can't seem to find a profession that suits him, much to the chagrin of his family. Still, his journey to find himself is full of entertaining adventures and misadventures. Modern-day readers will find a lot to love in Wilkie Collins' A Rogue's Life.
13) Basil
This classic novel from British author Wilkie Collins is a domestic drama packed with enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most jaded reader. After falling head-over-heels in love with a mysterious young woman, Basil decides he must have her at all costs, despite the fact that the decision may bring ruin to his high-society family. After courting the girl and convincing her father to agree to a marriage, things begin to veer off-track. Is
...14) Blind Love
Love is said to be the salve that soothes a damaged soul. But in some cases, an all-consuming intimacy can have the opposite effect, inflaming murderous jealousies and compelling people to act in the most nefarious ways. The relationship at the center of Wilkie Collins' classic novel Blind Love started out innocently enough, but before long, Iris Henley and Lord Harry Norland find themselves doomed by their passion.
This carefully crafted ebook: "Complete Works of Wilkie Collins: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Essays and Memoirs (Illustrated)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. Collins's works were classified at the time as "sensation novels," a genre seen nowadays as the precursor to detective and suspense fiction.
...The theme of this Megapack is classic mystery and crime fiction from the Victorian era. We have taken the liberty of extending the qualifying publication dates to the end of World War I, since that event marked more of a turning point in world literature than the advent of the Edwardian Age. Certainly the spirit of Victorian crime fiction continued beyond Queen Victoria. This volume contains 25 stories and 2 bonus novels, offering hours of reading
...Are our morals imbued in us through teaching and example, or do we come into this world with our personality and values written in our genes? The Legacy of Cain is novelist Wilkie Collins' engrossing take on the age-old nature-or-nurture question. When a woman sentenced to death begs a man of the cloth to care for her soon-to-be-orphaned child, the situation presents itself as a profound conundrum: is the offspring inevitably doomed to repeat
...Today, divorces are a dime a dozen. In the nineteenth century, however, the implosion of a family unit was a much rarer event, and the implications of such an occurrence often spread far beyond the small group of people who were directly involved. Settle in for this juicy domestic drama from Wilkie Collins, friend and protege of Charles Dickens.