Showing results by author "Wilkie Collins" in All Categories

Walter Hartright, a struggling art teacher, is stopped for directions while traveling on a dark road by a mysterious woman in white. Thus begins Walter's deep dive into the twists and turns of stolen identities, fraud, spies, conspiracy and death. Along the way, he meets the lovely Laura Fairlie and her emboldened half-sister, Marian Halcombe. Marian is brazen and assertive in her search for the truth, a strong female during a time when women were simply viewed as the weaker sex. She joins Walter on his journey to untangle the web of lies and deceit that has been spun so expertly.

A captivating anthology of some of the more unusual short stories written by well-known classic writers. 1. "A Witch in the Peak" by R. Murray Gilchrist. 2. "War" by Sherwood Anderson. 3. "Self-Help" by W. W. Jacobs. 4. "The Wolf" by Guy de Maupassant. 5. "Makes the Whole World Kin" by O. Henry. 6. "The Stone Dragon" by R. Murray Gilchrist. 7. "The New Englander" by Sherwood Anderson. 8. "Berenice" by Edgar Allan Poe. 9. "The Man with the Watches" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 10. "The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace" by G. F. Forest.

Madame Pratolungo is a close companion to Lucilla Finch, a young woman who has been blind since birth. Madame Pratolungo records the narrative of Lucilla's trials from falling in love with Oscar Duborg, her wealthy and shy neighbor, to ending up in a romantic entanglement between Oscar and his brother Nugent. When Lucilla temporarily regains her sight thanks to Herr Grosse, mistaken identities and manipulative schemes are there to greet her.

The Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday. That very night the priceless stone is stolen again, and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel’s household is above suspicion. The Moonstone is a marvellously taut and intricate tale of mystery, in which facts and memory can prove treacherous, and not everyone is as they first appear.

Skyboat Media presents, paired together for the first time, both the novel and the play of The Evil Genius by Wilkie Collins. Although both versions of the story were written at the same time, the play has never before been published and was only ever performed once on the stage. In fact, it is almost entirely unknown and is otherwise unavailable.

A collection of 45 short stories which threaten to unhinge the listener's mind. Strange phenomena, insane genius, inexplicable happenings and the inability to deal with life and death are all themes which run through this brilliant selection.

Claimed as the first detective story in the English language, Wilkie Collins weaves his classic mystery through a series of often "meandering" narratives by various characters in the book who had first hand knowledge surrounding the disappearance of a large valuable yellow diamond (the Moonstone) from the room of it's young owner, Rachel Verinder.

Just days after the wedding of Valeria Brinton and Eustace Woodville, a series of strange incidents causes Valeria to believe her husband is hiding a dark secret. She discovers he has been living under a false name, and when questioned, Eustace refuses to discuss it. Upon further digging, Valeria finds Eustace had been on trial three years ago for the murder of his wife. However, the verdict had come down as the scotch verdict of not proven. This implied his guilt, but there was not enough evidence for a conviction nor did it exonerate him.

Delve into the captivating tale of Rachel Verinder, a young woman who comes into possession of the Moonstone, a magnificent Indian diamond, on her eighteenth birthday. Heralded by T.S. Eliot as the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels, Moonstone sets the stage for the modern mystery and suspense genre. The plot is rife with intriguing elements such as a plethora of suspects, misleading clues, a crime solved by gifted amateurs present at the scene, and two contrasting police officers - the local bumbler and the adept Scotland Yard detective. This engrossing ...

A tale of unanticipated events unfolds as a prominent chemist and a savvy businessman breathe their last on the same day. The chemists widow, Mrs. Fontaine, inherits the toxic substances her husband was meticulously studying. Simultaneously, Mrs. Wagner, the businessmans widow, is left to carry out her husbands ambitious reforms for mental health institutions and his groundbreaking plans for gender equality in their business. A strong advocate for compassionate treatment of the mentally ill, Mrs. Wagner seeks the release of the intriguing character, Jack Straw, from an asylum. Meanwhile, her ...

Bequeathed a rare diamond by her late uncle, heiress Rachel Verinder has no idea it was stolen from an Indian temple or that it has a cursed history. When the diamond disappears on her eighteenth birthday, multiple suspects - including Rachel’s suitor, Franklin Blake - are implicated in its theft. Determined to prove his innocence, Franklin begins his own investigation. Did one of his fellow Englishmen steal the jewel? Or was it whisked back to India? The case, which unfolds through multiple narratives, takes startling twists and turns in pursuit of the truth.

Doug Bradley's Spine Chillers, Volume 2, presents four classic stories from the masters of horror literature. It kicks off with Charles Dickens' friend and collaborator Wilkie Collins' eerie tale of a man's dream of his own murder that comes too true, 'The Dream Woman'. Second on the bill is the master of American literature Edgar Allan Poe's classic story of doomed love 'The Oval Portrait'.

From the pen of the author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone, comes a collection of lesser known yet equally magnificent supernatural stories! Volume two features "A Terribly Strange Bed" (read by Luke Harrison), "Mrs. Zant and the Ghost" (read by Murray Melvin), and "Blow Up with the Brig" (read by Phil Reynolds). Be prepared to be terrified and entertained as Wilkie Collins’ disturbing tales of ghosts, deadly visions, and family curses come to life in this fantastic new collection.

These five chilling tales make perfect night time listening - and, for the fearful, can be heard in a group, rather than experienced as solo bedtime reading. Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, W. L. George, A. M. Burrage, and Guy de Maupassant provide the terrifying text; Ian Holm and Julie Peasgood provide the spoken spooks.

When the Countess Narona meets Agnes Lockwood, the woman jilted by her husband-to-be, she feels a great sense of foreboding. After the marriage, she moves with her husband, Lord Montbarry, to Venice. As much as Agnes tries to forget the episode of her broken engagement, her fate and that of the Countess seem to be inextricably woven. Both are relentlessly drawn to the Palace Hotel in Venice for a final and dramatic encounter, in the room where more than past emotions resurface to haunt them.

Sixteen classic stories.

Set in the financial centres of 1820s Frankfurt and London, Jezebel’s Daughter (1880) tells the story of two widows: Madame Fontaine, who will go to any lengths to secure her daughter’s marriage, and Mrs Wagner, who devotes herself to her late husband’s social reforms. In pursuit of her endeavours, Mrs Wagner befriends Jack Straw, a former inmate of Bedlam, who plays a pivotal role as the action, full of plotting and counterplotting, unfolds, culminating in the morgue, where several lives hang in the balance.

Late one night, a drawing teacher meets a mysterious woman dressed in white. Who is she, and what is her connection to the teacher's new pupil, a beautiful heiress? Serialized in 1859 - 1860, and first published in book form in 1860 it is still regarded still as one of the best plots in English literature. Told from multiple perspectives, the story is brought to life by its marvellous villains and complex, spirited and believable female characters.

Dive into the fascinating world of Wilkie Collins, the renowned Victorian maestro behind timeless classics like The Woman in White and The Moonstone. In this collection of captivating novelettes and novellas, Collins masterfully explores themes of love, loss, murder, and the supernatural. His unique blend of delicate prose and in-depth character exploration transports readers on an unforgettable journey through his imaginative landscapes. - Summary by Ben Tucker

First published in 1876, Wilkie Collins’s The Two Destinies follows the lives of childhood friends George and Mary. George is the son of a nobleman, while Mary is the daughter of the nobleman’s bailiff. As the friends grow older and closer, George’s father, determined to end their affair, dismisses the bailiff and moves George to America. Years later, George returns to his native Suffolk to track down his former love. Although she has long gone, he remains determined to find Mary at all costs. But are the two lovers destined to find each other again?