Owned and Unread Project

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Sunday, September 6, 2015

No Name by Wilkie Collins


When I posted my list for the recent Classics Club spin, I got more comments recommending No Name by Wilkie Collins than any other book on my list. It got me really excited about reading it, so I've put off my Spin Selection (which turned out to be Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell, which I'm also excited about) and last week I dove right into No Name. I was traveling last weekend so a big fat Victorian sensation novel was just the thing. 


Set in the 1840s, No Name is the story of two sisters, Magdalen and Norah Vanstone, and how they are cruelly robbed of their inheritance due to a terrible quirk of fate. Bereft after the death of their father, and shocked to learn they will inherit nothing, everyone expects the two sisters to live in genteel poverty as governesses. But the younger sister, Magdalen, isn't about to take this misfortune lying down. Her appeals to an estranged uncle are fruitless, so she decides to take matters into her own hands and use her acting talents to make her own fortune and leaves her family. Meanwhile, Magdalen has chance encounter with scoundrelly relative, Captain Wragge. She decides to turn the tables and use his dubious talents to her advantage. She's determined to extract revenge and restore her fortune. 


I think I loved this book even more than my two previous reads by Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone and The Woman in White, which are by far his best-known works. No Name is more than 600 pages, but I zoomed through it in on a few days (of course I did spend quite a bit of time in airport and airplanes). Nevertheless, this book really kept my attention.  Although it was full of amazing coincidences and melodrama (it is a Victorian sensation novel, after all), I loved how the relationship of Magdalen and Captain Wragge developed, and the book had tons of great plot twists. I could have finished it sooner but I couldn't stay up all night reading it after I returned from my trip. It is so annoying how work cuts into one's reading time!

This was a great, fun read and I'm really looking forward to Armadale which is the last Wilkie Collins novel on my Classics Club list. I think I'll also have to add Basil to my next Classics Club list which I'm mentally preparing as I only have 15 books left!
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17 comments:

  1. JoAnnSeptember 6, 2015 at 9:22 AM

    Better than The Moonstone and The Woman in White?? Those are the Collins novels I've read, too... very high praise, indeed! I know I'll never get to all the titles on my RIP list, but you sure make me want to try.

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    1. Karen K.September 7, 2015 at 10:17 AM

      I liked the TM and TWiW but this one really grabbed me. I did find TWiW kind of dragged. . . Count Fosco's letters seemed to go on forever.

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    2. JoAnnSeptember 7, 2015 at 10:23 AM

      Agreed! I much preferred The Moonstone.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 6, 2015 at 11:49 AM

    I've tried several times, but I never seem to get very far with Wilke Collins except for The Woman in White. But you've got me thinking that I should be reading more classics. I do love them, and there are many I have not read....

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    1. Karen K.September 7, 2015 at 10:18 AM

      I started reading classics about 10 years ago when I realized how many I hadn't read. And now my classics to-read list just keeps getting longer and longer.

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  3. KateSeptember 6, 2015 at 12:52 PM

    It's a great book

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  4. JeanSeptember 6, 2015 at 4:09 PM

    That sounds great! I need to read it too!

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    1. Karen K.September 7, 2015 at 10:19 AM

      I really enjoyed it. I do love a good Victorian sensation novel.

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  5. KatrinaSeptember 6, 2015 at 6:47 PM

    I've read all of those ones including Basil but Wilkie Collins doesn't come close to Trollope as far as I'm concerned.

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    1. Karen K.September 7, 2015 at 10:20 AM

      I adore Trollope, he's probably my favorite Victorian writer. Sometimes it's fun to try something different. Collins is a little more melodramatic and scandalous.

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  6. Jane @ Beyond Eden RockSeptember 7, 2015 at 11:25 AM

    I can never quite decide which Collins novel is my favourite, but this one is definitely on the shortlist, and overdue for re-reading.

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  7. Kristen M.September 7, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    I do love this one as well. One day I will find time to do all of the Wilkie Collins rereads that I want to do!

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  8. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2015 at 9:18 PM

    Oh wow! More than The Woman in White and The Moonstone? I am surprised! I've always thought of his other books as being lesser -- which is totally unfair because I've never read any of them. That's awesome to hear, though! Can't wait to read No Name!

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  9. oSeptember 14, 2015 at 5:02 PM

    I just this very morning wrote a post on The Woman in White saying that was my favourite Collins so far - BUT I haven't read No Name yet! I'm now very much looking forward to reading it - I can't imagine anything surpassing The Moonstone and Woman in White. Great post :)

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  10. MelindaSeptember 23, 2015 at 4:53 AM

    I have one Wilkie Collins book (A Woman in White), but I've always been a bit too scared to read it. I think maybe I should read this one first, as you rate it above Woman in White!

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  11. Barbara H.November 13, 2015 at 2:23 PM

    I've only read The Woman in White and The Dead Secret, but loved them, so I will definitely be looking into this one some time.

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