Name: The Moonstone
Author: Wilkie Collins
ISBN: 9780192551450

The Moonstone

Wilkie Collins

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Author Description

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.

Menrva's Summary

THE PULSE

The theft of a priceless Indian diamond from a Yorkshire country house triggers a complex investigation that exposes the hidden secrets of multiple household members. The protagonist, Rachel Verinder, finds her life disrupted when the Moonstone vanishes from her bedroom, leading to a frantic search for the culprit. Opposing forces include the social pressures of the Victorian era, the deceptive nature of the suspects, and the physical constraints of the isolated estate. The narrative framework utilizes a multi-perspective epistolary structure, where various characters provide their own accounts of the events to reconstruct the truth.

INSIDE THE PAGES

Multi-narrator perspective structure
Epistolary format including letters and journals
Victorian country house setting
Detective character archetype
Themes of addiction and social class
Gradual revelation of hidden motives
Atmospheric suspense building
Integration of colonial history and theft

THE COLLECTIVE ECHO

Discussion often centers on the innovative use of multiple narrators, which allows Collins to present a multifaceted view of the central mystery. Readers frequently highlight the atmospheric tension and the meticulous pacing that keeps the investigation engaging throughout the text. Critics often point to the novel as a foundational work in the development of the detective genre, noting its influence on subsequent mystery writers. The balance between character-driven drama and the mechanics of the crime remains a frequent topic of analysis for those examining nineteenth-century literature.

Page Count:
576

Publication Date:
2019-01-01

Publisher:
OUP Oxford

ISBN-10:
0192551450

ISBN-13:
9780192551450

Mystery

English & College Success

classic

England

Verinder rachel fictitious character fiction

Sensation

Mystery fiction