Man and Wife (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

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Product Description

William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and writer of short stories. He was hugely popular in his time, and wrote 27 novels, more than 50 short stories, at least 15 plays, and over 100 pieces of non-fiction work. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1860), The Moonstone (1868), Armadale (1866) and No Name (1862). His works were classified at the time as 'sensation novels', a genre seen nowadays as the precursor to detective fiction and suspense fiction. He also wrote penetratingly on the plight of women and on the social and domestic issues of his time. His novel, No Name combined social commentary - the absurdity of the law as it applied to children of unmarried parents - with a densely-plotted revenge thriller. Amongst his other works are: Basil (1852), Hide and Seek (1854), After the Dark (1856), The Frozen Deep (1857), The Queen of Hearts (1859), Man and Wife (1870), The New Magdalen (1873), The Law and the Lady (1875), The Two Destinies (1876), and A Rogue's Life (1879).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 680 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (November 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406582840
• ISBN-13: 978-1406582840
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Agony of Divorce, February 18, 2000

By	Francine Smith (Denver, CO, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man and Wife (Pocket Classics) (Paperback)

This was actually a fun read. It's an anti-mother-in-law book. It's also about divorce. Despite the Victorian horror of the subject, I can't help thinking that we modern folk could learn something from this book. Little things mostly, like avoiding temptation and not placing your spouse in temptation. Probably the biggest thing I learned was not to have your mother-in-law live with you. Good advice in any age.

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.