Es war zu dieser denkwürdigen Zeit in der frühen Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten, als dieamerikanischen Bürger sich an der Tyrannei Georges des III. und an seinem Parlament rächten, indem sie eine Fracht besteuerten Tees vernichteten, als ein Händler aus Bristol im Hafen von Boston einlief, mit einem Passagier an Bord. Dieser Passagier war eine englische Fraunamens Esther Calvert, Tochter eines Ladenbesitzers in Cheltenham und die Nichte des Kapitäns des Schiffes.Wie es weiter geht? Lest selbst in Geschichten zum Einschlafen für Erwachsene!
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘The horrid mystery hanging over us in this house gets into my head like liquor, and makes me wild.’Centred around a glorious yellow diamond that carries with it a menacing history, The Moonstone tells the story of Rachel Verinder, who inherits the stone on her eighteenth birthday. That very evening, the diamond is stolen and there begins an epic enquiry into hunting down the thief. At the same time, three Indian men, Brahmin guardians of the diamond are attempting to reclaim the stone in order to return it to their sacred Hindu Idol.Told from the perspective of 11different characters, Wilkie Collins’ tale of mystery and suspicion was considered the first modern English detective novel at its time of publication.
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared.’One of the earliest works of ‘detective’ fiction with a narrative woven together from multiple characters, Wilkie Collins partly based his infamous novel on a real-life eighteenth century case of abduction and wrongful imprisonment. In 1859, the story caused a sensation with its readers, hooking their attention with the ghostly first scene where the mysterious ‘Woman in White’ Anne Catherick comes across Walter Hartright. Chilling, suspenseful and tense in mood, the novel remains as emotive for its readers today as when it was first published.
William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. The first full length novel by Collins, «The Dead Secret», was originally written for serialization. A tale of unrelenting suspense and penetrating characterization, «The Dead Secret» tells of a mystery surrounding an untold secret of a dying wealthy woman. This woman's secret is shared only with her servant. Despite the woman's dying wish, the servant does not expose this secret but ends with an unpleasant result. Eventually the secret is revealed and all is understood in this blend of romance and Gothic drama.
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. «The Black Robe» (1881) is an epistolary novel written later in Collins' career, when his severe opium addiction led to a decline in the popularity of his writing. The story centers around Lewis Romayne, whose misadventures in life and love demand sympathy from any reader. Although criticized in its time for a perceived anti-Catholic bias, the novel is today appreciated for being, like most of Collins' work, a highly readable piece.
William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. «Man and Wife» is an involved novel of two generations of marriages that end in disaster. However, the novel is much more than the story of a helpless Victorian bride at the mercy of her tyrannical husband. Instead, «Man and Wife» explores the complex laws surrounding Irish and Scottish marriages in the 19th century. At that time, people in Scotland were considered married if they simply announced it. Collins's interest in the law, especially marriage and divorce, led to this novel with endless legal loopholes concerning what constitutes a marriage and what doesn't.
William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Aside from his highly successful novels, Collins' short stories were eagerly awaited as they appeared in serial form in many English and American periodicals, including those of his close friend, Charles Dickens. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. This edition contains Collins' entire collection of short fiction, including: «A Terribly Strange Bed,» the dark and suspenseful tale of a young man in a precarious hotel room, «The Frozen Deep,» and «The Dream Woman,» to name a few.
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. This collection of novellas, although varied in style and plotline, is a wonderful example of some of Wilkie's later work, as it became increasingly laden with social commentary. «Miss or Mrs.?» is a fast-paced story of malice, blackmail, marriage and fraud; «The Haunted Hotel» is perhaps Collins' last lucid work, its eerie and suspenseful story influenced heavily by Collins' severe opium addiction; and «The Guilty River» is the psychological and violent tale of two men in love with the same woman.
Considered one of the first mystery novels, «The Woman in White» is Wilkie Collins's epistolary novel that tells the tale of Walter Hartright, who encounters a woman all dressed in white on a moonlit road in Hampstead. Hartright helps the woman to find her way back to London. The woman warns him against an unnamed baronet and when they part he discovers that she may have escaped from an asylum. Hartright travels to Cumberland where he takes up as an art tutor and meets two half-sisters, Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe, who are somehow entangled with this mysterious «woman in white».
Generally considered as the first detective novel in the English language, «The Moonstone» is the story of a young woman named Rachel Verinder who inherits a large Indian diamond, the Moonstone, on her eighteenth birthday. At her eighteenth birthday party, Rachel wears the Moonstone for all to see, later that night the diamond is stolen and quickly an investigation ensues to discover the identity of the thief and recover the jewel. A genre defining novel, «The Moonstone» is a classic, one of Wilkie Collins best loved works.