Customer Reviews

Miss or Mrs? (Pocket Classics)

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This is a throw away book for Wilkie Collins. It's a short romance with a subplot about a murderous sea captain. Well worth a read if it falls in your lap, but no masterpiece.

This book starts off very slowly and is at times tedious and boring, but if you stick with it the plot builds nicely. I notice that this is often the case with classic books.

Basically, this book is about a 38yr old man about to marry a 15-16 year old girl in about 1880 England. The girl wants none of it, she wants her cousin who is in his early 20s. She is weak and afraid to upset her father. She is convinced to marry the cousin secretly through posting of the banns in a remote area where no one will know to contest the marriage. Apparently there is an abduction law for girls under 15 so she cant leave with her new husband. Basically, she is left the last month of her 15th year with her father who is still actively planning the marriage to the older sea captain.

Turns out the sea captain has a shady past and is now in some financial mess. He is very suspicious and knows, but cant prove, that something is going on between the cousins. He needs to marry her for her dowry, not just because he covets her. In an attempt to control things, he invites the family out to his country home. There are attempted murders as the plot thickens. The last 20% of the book is quite interesting. I wont actually spoil it all for those who want to read this book.