|
Showing 1 - 25 of
1894 matches in All Departments
HarperCollins is proud to present its 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.
HarperCollins is proud to present its 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.
The Moonstone is one of the most famous suspense novels of all
time: a masterpiece of construction and the ultimate page-turner,
it introduced one of the world's most beloved genres, the detective
story.
At a party celebrating her eighteenth birthday, Rachel Verinder
wears the stunning yellow diamond she unexpectedly inherited from
her uncle, Colonel John Herncastle.
She is not aware that the precious gem, known as the Moonstone,
has been missing since it was plundered from a sacred Hindu shrine
in southern India where her uncle had served with the British army
fifty years ago.
But someone knows the secret of the Moonstone and will go to
desperate measures to retrieve it. When it goes missing later that
night, suspicions are raised and accusations fly. Could it be a
trio of mysterious Indian jugglers seen near the house? Or a
love-struck housemaid suddenly behaving strangely? And there is
Rachel herself, who becomes furious when her paramour, Franklin
Blake, directs attempts to find it.
As divergent accounts reveal more details, the diamond's
recovery is complicated by unexpected twists and turns. Sifting
through a compelling list of suspects, the indomitable Sergeant
Cuff must find the truth about the Moonstone and its mysterious
disappearance.
The Moonstone features 66 black and-white woodcut illustrations
throughout.
An enigmatic countess is tormented by a dark secret. An English
aristocrat, Lord Montbarry, falls ill and dies in a decaying
Venetian palazzo. An Italian servant disappears, and his wife
receives a note containing one thousand pounds. With the palazzo
now transformed into a luxury hotel, and the late Lord Montbarry's
family in residence, these strands begin to come together, yet
strange and macabre events are occurring, and the dead seem unable
to rest.
|
The Moonstone (Paperback, Reissue)
Wilkie Collins; Introduction by David Blair; Notes by David Blair; Series edited by Keith Carabine
|
R142
R107
Discovery Miles 1 070
Save R35 (25%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
Introduction and Notes by David Blair, Rutherford College,
University of Kent. The Moonstone, a priceless Indian diamond which
had been brought to England as spoils of war, is given to Rachel
Verrinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night, the stone is
stolen. Suspicion then falls on a hunchbacked housemaid, on
Rachel's cousin Franklin Blake, on a troupe of mysterious Indian
jugglers, and on Rachel herself. The phlegmatic Sergeant Cuff is
called in, and with the help of Betteredge, the Robinson
Crusoe-reading loquacious steward, the mystery of the missing stone
is ingeniously solved.
An enjoyable 19th century read following doomed happenings and
grisly, secret premonitions. An eminent doctor is visited by a
desperate woman with a question: am I evil, or insane? When the
letters from Italian servant to his wife in London suddenly cease,
she is convinced he has been murdered. In the darkened bedroom of a
mouldering palazzo by the Grand Canal, an English lord sickens and
suddenly dies. How are these little mysteries connected? Spend the
night in Room 14 of Venice's finest hotel, and find out the truth -
if you dare... INCLUDES THE GHOST STORY 'THE DREAM WOMAN'
|
The Haunted Hotel & Other Stories (Paperback)
Wilkie Collins; Edited by David Stuart Davies; Introduction by David Stuart Davies; Series edited by David Stuart Davies
|
R165
R121
Discovery Miles 1 210
Save R44 (27%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
Editedand with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies. 'Have you
ever heard of the fascination of terror?' This is a unique
collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie
Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The star
attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination
of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim
waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an
ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly
secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative,
and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful
tale. The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which
include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the
most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity
of vision that can lead to madness.
"She looked so irresistibly beautiful as she said those brave words
that no man alive could have steeled his heart against her." In
love with the beautiful heiress Laura Fairlie, the impoverished art
teacher Walter Hartright finds his romantic desires thwarted by her
previous engagement to Sir Percival Glyde. But all is not as it
seems with Sir Percival, as becomes clear when he arrives with his
eccentric friend Count Fosco. The mystery and intrigue are further
deepened by the ghostly appearances of a woman in white, apparently
harbouring a secret that concerns Sir Percival's past. A tale of
love, madness, deceit and redemption, boasting sublime Gothic
settings and pulse-quickening suspense, The Woman in White was the
first best-selling Victorian sensation novel, sparking off a huge
trend in the fiction of the time with its compulsive, fascinating
narrative.
Wilkie Collins is the only leading Victorian novelist whose letters have not been published. This two-volume edition will thus fill a gaping hole in any assessment of one of the nineteenth century's most loved novelists. It is also extremely timely. Two recent biographies have re-assessed his private life and his literary achievements. His best known novels, The Woman in White and The Moonstone, continue to feature on television, and most of his thirty-odd novels are in print. This authorized edition covers more than 2,000 of Collins' letters.
Who, in the name of wonder, had taken the Moonstone out of Miss
Rachel's drawer? A celebrated Indian yellow diamond is first stolen
from India, then vanishes from a Yorkshire country house. Who took
it? And where is it now? A dramatist as well as a novelist, Wilkie
Collins gives to each of his narratorsa household servant, a
detective, a lawyer, a cloth-eared Evangelical, a dying medical
manvibrant identities as they separately tell the part of the story
that concerns themselves. One of the great triumphs of
nineteenth-century sensation fiction, The Moonstone tells of a
mystery that for page after page becomes more, not less
inexplicable. Collins's novel of addictions is itself addictive,
moving through a sequence of startling revelations towards the
final disclosure of the truth. Entranced with double lives, with
men and women who only know part of the story, Collins weaves their
narratives into a web of suspense. The Moonstone is a text that
grows imaginatively out of the secrets that the unconventional
Collins was obliged to keep as he wrote the novel.
|
Jezebel's Daughter (Paperback)
Wilkie Collins; Edited by Jason David Hall
|
R340
R240
Discovery Miles 2 400
Save R100 (29%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
'The power that I have dreamed of all my life is mine at last!' How
far is a mother prepared to go to secure her daughter's future?
Madame Fontaine, widow of an eminent chemist, has both the
determination and the cunning to bring young Minna's marriage plans
to fruition, with dangerous consequences for anyone who dares to
stand in her way. But has she met her match in Jack Straw, one-time
inmate of Bedlam lunatic asylum? It will take a visit to the morgue
to find out who triumphs - and who comes out alive. Reminiscent of
Collins's blockbusters The Woman in White and Armadale, this
suspenseful case study in villainy is set against the financial
world of 1820s Frankfurt and tells the story of two widows, one of
them devoted to realizing her husband's social reforms, the other
equally devoted to the pursuit of her daughter's happiness. ABOUT
THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made
available the widest range of literature from around the globe.
Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship,
providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable
features, including expert introductions by leading authorities,
helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for
further study, and much more.
Valeria Woodville's first act as a married woman is to sign her
name in the marriage register incorrectly, and this slip is
followed by the gradual disclosure of a series of secrets about her
husband's earlier life, each of which leads on to another set of
questions and enigmas. Her discoveries prompt her to defy her
husband's authority, to take the law into into a labyrinthine maze
of false clues and deceptive identities, in which the exploration
of the tangled workings of the mind becomes linked to an
investigation into the masquerades of femininity. Probably the
first full-length novel with a woman detective as its heroine, The
Law and the Lady is a fascinating example of Collins's later
fiction. First published in 1875, it employs many of the techniques
used in The Moonstone, developing them in bizarre and unexpected
ways, and in its Gothic and fantastic elements The Law and the Lady
adds a significant dimension to the history of detective fiction.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has
made available the widest range of literature from around the
globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to
scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of
other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading
authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date
bibliographies for further study, and much more.
The Penguin English Library Edition of The Woman in White by Wilkie
Collins 'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought
to a stop ... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the
earth ... stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head
to foot in white' The Woman in White famously opens with Walter
Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a
drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into
the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming'
friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons
and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the
paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The
Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian
genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism. The
Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in
English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to
the beginning of the First World War.
|
Somebody's Luggage (Paperback)
Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
|
R362
R276
Discovery Miles 2 760
Save R86 (24%)
|
Out of stock
|
Reprinted in its entirety for the first time since its original
publication in 1862, Somebody's Luggage is a rediscovered gem from
Dickens's later life.
Stumbling upon some luggage that has been left behind in the hotel
where he works, a waiter searches through it to identify its owner.
He fails to discover this, but he does find, secreted away in
different parts of the luggage, quite a number of stories.
Impressed by their quality, he succeeds in getting them published,
although the identity of their author remains a mystery until a
visitor comes calling. Written with Dickens's characteristic wit
and descriptive skill--and boasting contributions by eminent
Victorian writers Wilkie Collins, Adelaide Anne Procter, and
Elizabeth Gaskell--Somebody's Luggage is a wonderful composite of
tales. Charles Dickens (1812-70) is one of England's most important
literary figures. His works enjoyed enormous success in his day and
are still regarded as among the most popular and widely read
classics of all time.
The Penguin English Library Edition of The Moonstone by Wilkie
Collins 'Here was our quiet English house suddenly invaded by a
devilish Indian Diamond - bringing after it a conspiracy of living
rogues, set loose on us by the vengeance of a dead man' When Rachel
Verinder's birthday present - the Moonstone, a large Indian diamond
- is stolen at her party, suspicion and the diamond's mysterious
curse seem set to ruin everyone and everything she loves. Only
Sergeant Cuff's famous detective skills offer any hope of peace and
a future for them all. The intricate plot and modern technique of
multiple narrators made Wilkie Collin's 1868 work a huge success in
the Victorian sensation genre. With a reconstruction of the crime,
red herrings and a 'locked-room' puzzle, The Moonstone was also a
major precursor of the modern mystery novel. The Penguin English
Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the
eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of
the First World War.
|
The Woman in White (Paperback)
Wilkie Collins; Introduction by Scott Brewster; Notes by Scott Brewster; Series edited by David Stuart Davies
|
R174
R131
Discovery Miles 1 310
Save R43 (25%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
With an Introduction and Notes by Scott Brewster, University of
Central Lancashire. Wilkie Collins is a master of mystery, and The
Woman in White is his first excursion into the genre. When the
hero, Walter Hartright, on a moonlit night in north London,
encounters a solitary, terrified and beautiful woman dressed in
white, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress. The
intricate plot is peopled with a finely characterised cast, from
the peevish invalid Mr Fairlie to the corpulent villain Count Fosco
and the enigmatic woman herself.
|
Moonstone (Paperback)
Wilkie Collins; Retold by Tony Evans; Illustrated by Felix Bennet
|
R183
Discovery Miles 1 830
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
When Rachel Verinder inherits the Moonstone from her uncle on her
eighteenth birthday, the wonderful jewel is intended to make her
rich and happy. So why is her mother so worried about this valuable
gift? Rachel seems very fond of her cousin, Franklin Blake. When
trouble strikes, why does she refuse his help? What has he done to
offend her? Can Sergeant Cuff, the famous detective, solve the
dangerous mystery of the Moonstone before it is too late?
|
Woman in White (Paperback)
Wilkie Collins; Retold by Tony Evans; Illustrated by Felix Bennet
|
R183
Discovery Miles 1 830
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
When Walter Hartright meets the woman in white, it is the start of
an exciting and dangerous adventure. Who is she, and what does she
want? At first Walter is happy at Limmeridge House, teaching
painting and drawing to Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe, but a
wicked plot soon threatens to destroy the woman he loves. Will
their courage and determination be enough to defeat the powerful
forces ranged against them? Is the mysterious woman in white their
friend, or their enemy?
|
The Moonstone (Paperback)
Wilkie Collins; Contributions by Mint Editions
|
R512
R467
Discovery Miles 4 670
Save R45 (9%)
|
Ships in 9 - 15 working days
|
A sharp-witted detective investigates the mystery of a gem,
plundered from India and now vanished in England, and discovers
shifting motives, unreliable testimony and growing danger in this
foundational classic of mystery fiction. The Moonstone justly
occupies an exalted position as a groundbreaking novel that opened
the way for a great deal of genre fiction, mysteries and thrillers,
but it is far more than simply an influence upon later works. This
is an epistolary novel with a number of diverse and clearly incised
viewpoints, displaying the author's skill with both character and
the unveiling of the elements of a mystery plot. One of the
characters is the detective charged with finding the thief who
stole the Moonstone, a huge diamond with a bloody history, and he
is a clear precursor to A.C. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Another
character, much remarked upon at the novel's original release,
suffers from opium addiction, depicted with frightening clarity by
Collins, who dealt with that issue firsthand. The plot is
sensational but relayed realistically and builds to one of the most
unusual plot twists in mystery literature, made all the more
remarkable by virtue of appearing in the genre's earliest days.
Initially serialized in Charles Dickens magazine All The Year
Round, The Moonstone was published in 1868 and has never been out
of print since. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of The Moonstone is both modern
and readable.
|
You may like...
LSD
Labrinth, Sia, …
CD
R213
R71
Discovery Miles 710
|