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laurieb755 's review for:
No Name
by Wilkie Collins
Whoa – perhaps this book is even more of a page turner than Collins' The Woman In White and The Moonstone, having been written between the two. This was a 700 plus page drama of one 18 year olds determined efforts to reinstate the inheritance which, by all standards save the legalities of the Victorian era, were due her and her 26-year old sister.
Magdalen Vanstone and her sister Nora became orphans within the span of a few short months, only to discover that due to a twist of legal fate and timing, they are forbidden from inheriting their parents home and income. This creates a glitch in Magdalen's pending marriage plans and further sets her to devote her young years to seeking return of the family fortune from a crusty, embittered uncle (who inherited it by law, yet already has plenty of his own money, so is not in need of it.)
Magdalen's two year path is filled with drama, some characters who provoked this readers sense of humor (Captain and Mrs Wragge), despair, cunning, heartache, and finally resurrection. There were some plot twists and multiple character-degrees-of-separation, all handsomely tied up by the end.
Collins is a master of his genre, and I am game to try my hand at some more of his stories.
PS Quite enjoyed Collins' device of separating the scenes, and forwarding the plot, with letters sent between various characters. In a book as dense with words and descriptions as this, the letters provided a nice change of pace and balance.
Magdalen Vanstone and her sister Nora became orphans within the span of a few short months, only to discover that due to a twist of legal fate and timing, they are forbidden from inheriting their parents home and income. This creates a glitch in Magdalen's pending marriage plans and further sets her to devote her young years to seeking return of the family fortune from a crusty, embittered uncle (who inherited it by law, yet already has plenty of his own money, so is not in need of it.)
Magdalen's two year path is filled with drama, some characters who provoked this readers sense of humor (Captain and Mrs Wragge), despair, cunning, heartache, and finally resurrection. There were some plot twists and multiple character-degrees-of-separation, all handsomely tied up by the end.
Collins is a master of his genre, and I am game to try my hand at some more of his stories.
PS Quite enjoyed Collins' device of separating the scenes, and forwarding the plot, with letters sent between various characters. In a book as dense with words and descriptions as this, the letters provided a nice change of pace and balance.