Man and Wife [Paperback]

Wilkie Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

The story here offered to the reader differs in one respect from the stories which have preceded it by the same hand. This time the fiction is founded on facts, and aspires to afford what help it may towards hastening the reform of certain abuses which have been too long suffered to exist among us unchecked. As to the present scandalous condition of the Marriage Laws of the United Kingdom there can be no dispute. The Report of the Royal Commission appointed to examine the working of those laws, has supplied the solid foundation on which I have built my book. -- Wilkie Collins

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--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Norman Page is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Nottingham. The author of numerous books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, he is the editor of Mad Monkton in World's Classics, and Consultant Editor for the works of Thomas Hardy in Everyman Paperbacks. He lives in Oakham, Rutland. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809594781
• ISBN-13: 978-0809594788
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,427,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wilkie Collins in good form.., March 19, 2001

By 

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man and Wife (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

In general, I have not been impressed with the works of Wilkie Collins outside his "big 4" novels ('The Woman in White', 'No Name', 'Armadale', and 'The Moonstone'). 'Man and Wife' was written right after 'The Moonstone', the last of his really successful novels. Sadly, this novel is unjustly overlooked by Wilkie Collins fans. It's actually a fun read.

'Man and Wife' is a complicated story about a young couple, and their friends/family, caught up in the consequences of lax marriage laws during the Victorian era. At that time folks in Scotland were considered married if they simply announced it. No need for marriage licenses, blood tests, etc. Wilkie Collins's gift of building the suspense works well, and the book's ending is unexpected (and terrific).

'Man and Wife' is every bit as good as, say, 'The Moonstone'. However for Wilkie Collins neophytes I suggest first trying 'The Woman in White' or 'No Name' (..both are my favorites).

PS - I think the previous reviewer is mistaken. This book has nothing to do with intrusive mother-in-laws.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A harsh view of Victorian marriages, April 15, 2010

By 

Elizabeth (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man and Wife (Optimized for Kindle) (Kindle Edition)

Man and Wife is a 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 despotic husband. Instead, Man and Wife explores the complex laws surrounding Irish and Scottish marriages in the nineteenth century. Wilkie Collins's interest in the law, especially marriage and divorce, lead to a novel with endless legal loopholes concerning what constitututes a marriage and what doesn't.

The lives of two generation of friends named Anne and Blanche are forever changed by the laws concerning man and wife. The first generation Anne and Blanche are childhood friends. Anne Vanborough's Irish marriage is declared null and void by English law. She dies broken hearted and entreats her dearest friend, Anne, to look after he daughter also named Anne. As Anne lay dying she thinks of her daughter and wonders "will she end like me?".

After Anne's death, Blanche raises little Anne as her own. Little Anne and Blanche's daughter also named Blanche become best friends. However, history is determined to repeat itself in a much more tragic manner.

Another marriage comes under scrutiny. Another woman is forced to become an outcast by the legal system. Anne and Blanche are destined to relive the events that cursed their mothers. I absolutely recommend this novel to all WC fans. Many parts of the novel will move you to tears, others will leave you livid. In my opinion, Man and Wife features the most despicable character I've ever encountered in a Collins novel. An excellent read!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Collins' Best, September 22, 2009

By 

disco75 "disco75" (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man and Wife (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

*Man & Wife* is a wonderful mystery novel, except that instead of the whodunit format, the time frame is reversed and the crime is unfolding as we read. With exciting prose and plotting, Collins produces in the second quarter of the book a pursuit sequence almost as riveting as *Dracula's* 1897 mountain chase. The misdeed is largely psychological and societal: a woman promised but not given marriage becomes pregnant, and she has to be very resourceful in identifying a way to keep her baby legitimate as she hides her condition under the bustles of Victorian dress codes. So far, shades of Hardy's *Two On A Tower,* except this is not a romance. Rather, it is an excoriation of Victorian male-female privilege disparities using bizarre, and actual, Scottish marriage laws of the time.

It was written after Collins' blockbuster 1860s novels. As a result, it has the more finely nuanced understanding of human nature that he honed until his very finest novel (*The Evil Genius* comedy). However, it was composed in 1870, and the proximity to his very purple sensation novels like *Armadale* and *Woman In White* leave *Man & Wife* turning in the last quarter to a jep novel that is a sensation style but not as campily over-the-top as the 60s volumes. Fortunately, there is finely-observed satire and comedy to lighten the mood most of the way. It is stronger than that other hidden gem of Collins, *Hide & Seek* and more believable than *The Moonstone.* So cinematic, I'm surprised it hasn't been made into a Gosford Park-style treat.