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William Wilkie Collins

British sensation novelist (1824-1889)

About William Wilkie Collins

"And then, bang, that's it. Then you wait for a week. And it's that waiting which Collins developed into an extraordinarily exciting art form."

—John Mullan, Professor of English, University College London

Wilkie Collins was the foremost writer of the group known as "sensation novelists," a group which also included writers such as Ellen Wood, aka Mrs. Henry Wood (East Lynne) and Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Lady Audley's Secret).

In his best work, such as The Woman in White and No Name, nobody could match Collins' ability to throw up exciting cliffhangers at the end of each week's installment. Collins, perhaps more than any other writer, presents a very different experience when read in serial rather than volume format.

William Wilkie Collins Novels Available at Mousehold Words

A Rogue's Life (1856)
5 parts of 8,000-12,000 words each.

A Rogue's Life tells the story of a young gentleman's decision to abandon respectable poverty in pursuit of unrespectable wealth, with all the consequences that followed. One of Collins' earliest works, this short novel was published serially in Household Words in 1856, but not published as a volume until 1879. In a new preface included in the volume edition (available for separate download inRTF format or in HTML format), Collins explains that he had set it aside to revise and expand, but had never gotten around to doing so; and so it was republished in its original form.
The Woman in White (1859-60)
40 parts of 5,000-10,000 words each.

Collins was one of the masters of the weekly serial, and The Woman in White is one of his best books. Tight plotting, compelling characters, and wonderful atmospheric writing draw the reader along, as of course do Collins' superb cliffhangers and plot twists.
No Name (1862-63)
45 parts of 5,000-7,000 words each.

No Name features some of Collins' most finely drawn characters, including an extremely unconventional, and extremely resourceful, heroine (or anti-heroine). The ending of this book was condemned in its time for not fulfilling the expectations of its Victorian audience.
Armadale (1864-66)
20 parts of 12,000-20,000 words each.

Armadale examines one of Collins' favorite themes: the role of fate, or destiny, in human affiars. It also introduces one of his most famous villainesses, in Lydia Gwilt.

A separate appendix answering some critics of the novel was published in the volume edition, but not in the serial. It can be downloaded in RTF format or in HTML format.
The Black Robe (1880-81)
8 parts of 12,000-16,000 words each.

Anti-Catholic sentiments were common in the 1880s, and The Black Robe plays into them with the story of a villainous Jesuit's campaign to convert a wealthy Englishman.
The Evil Genius (1885-86)
21 parts of 4,000-8,000 words each.

This somewhat rambling late novel deals with the then-shocking subjects of divorce and adultery.

William Wilkie Collins Links