About this title: A child born out of wedlock, her anguished mother, and ancient family secrets comprise the plot of this Wilkie Collins thriller, a sterling example of Victorian "sensation fiction."
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Book has medium cover wear, light cover lift, spine creases, small spot soiling on page edges. Each book individually hand cleaned. read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0486237753 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please e us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
Description: Good. 1979-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Dover Publications
Date Published: 1979
ISBN-13:9780486237756ISBN:0486237753
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 359 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 1997-10-23
ISBN-13:9780192823274ISBN:0192823272
Description: Good. Cover shows some shelf wear or creases. No highlighting or underlining. Pages yellowed / tanned. You're gonna love this book! read more
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Like new. No sign of wear on cover or pages. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 359 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
"This book was a very fun read and very suspenseful to the very last chapter. The unique thing about this book is that it was published in weekly increments in magazines. It is very Victorian in the exploration of the morale standards and lessons, but very enjoyable due to the colorful characters and the vivid descriptions of Cornwall and the English countryside. Wilkie Collins creates the most fantastic characters. In this story, my favorite character is the weird uncle, Andrew Treverton, who lives in complete solitude with his equally odd man servant, Shrowl. They live in an old mansion and decide to grow their own food and grind their own corn so as to not have to rely on merchants who they believe are cheating them. The book revolves around a secret letter hidden somewhere in the dilapidated mansion on the moors . . . and the race is on to find it."
"I learned that I love Wilkie Collins. I think I may have liked The Woman in White just a little more but this was a page turner. Two character stand out, Rosamond, and Uncle Joseph, they were easy to love and were quite popular with readers. Sarah Leeson was not so easy to love until the whole "secret" was revealed, only then, could you have a better understanding of Sarah and what she had been through to make her the strange, interesting character she was.
"The idea of tracing, in this character, the influence of a heavy responsibility on a naturally timid woman, whose mind was neither strong enough to bear it, nor bold enough to drop it altogether, was a favorite idea with me, at the time, and is so much a favorite still, that I privately give "Sarah Leeson" the place of honor in the little portrait-gallery which my story contains. Perhaps, in saying this, I am only acknowledging, in other words, that the parents of literary families share the well-known inconsistencies of parents in general, and are sometimes unreasonably fond of the child who has always given them the most trouble. "-- Wilkie Collins, _January, 1861"
"I liked this book, but I felt like Collins was trying a bit too hard to be like Dickens. There were several characters that Collins spent pages and pages describing who were not really part of the story or necessary at all. The secret was easy to guess and Sarah's anguish is a bit much at times, but the end made me cry and was mostly satisfying. Not Collins' best, but a good read nonetheless."
One of my favorite descriptions: "A very estimable young person, Miss Sturch (as the ladies of Long Beckley were accustomed to say); so judicious with the children, and so attached to her household duties; such a well-regulated mind, and such a crisp touch on the piano; just nice-looking enough; not quite old enough, perhaps, and a little too much inclined to be embrace-ably plump about the region of the waist-- but, on the whole, a most estimable young person -- very much so, indeed.""
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