Chatting Wilkie Collins | Ranking, Where to Start, and more! 

Still coming back to your videos for recommendations. Miss you Jennifer

Armadale is almost too crazy to be believed, and that's why I love it. Lydia Gwilt is a villainess for the ages.

What's great about Wilkie Collins is that his Novels don't have any boring Parts like in some long Classic Novels.

My favorite is and probably will always be is The Woman In white

The Woman in White is the first Wilkie Collins that I read too and is my absolute favorite. It is also one of my favourite books of all time.

I absolutely loved 'No Name', it's probably my favourite Wilkie Collins novel. Very compelling :)

For me - as a German - Collins has a clear advantage over Dickens. Collins's English is much "simpler". I have read almost all his novels and only one by Dickens - of course, Copperfield. Today it is so easy to read 19th century literature without spending a single penny. Everything is available in epub format. On a book-reader you can also lookup words you do not know by just "clicking" on the word. My favourite is "Armadale " especially - of course - the portrayal of Lydia.

Loved your commentary!! I, too, love Wilkie Collins. So wonderful to listen to others discuss his works. How I wish I could have met Mr. Collins~it seems as if he must have been a very interesting and passionate person. Also, I'll mention that I am reading Man and Wife right now and loving every minute of it.

I love Collins Im on number 7 I think... And I must say, I so appreciate your nice calm adult intelligent voice. A very well done review.

Thanks for the review. Just completed reading the Woman in White and was looking for further recommendations!!

I had to laugh when I saw the title for this video. For Victober I had decided to read “Great Expectations” and “ The Woman in White.” The latter is a reread as it is an ATF for me. I think I’ll move “No Name” up my TBR. Thank you for your great review of that.

Love Wilkie Collins too. I have read Moonstone, Woman in White, Mrs Zant and the Ghost and have just finished The Two Destinies which I really enjoyed too. Think i might try your recommendation Armadale next. I also like Charles Dickens books and have read a number of them but they don't read as easily as Wilkie Collins.

I know this is an old video but I just discovered your channel and wanted to reply because Wilkie Collins is my favorite Victorian author, too - and I feel exactly the same way you do about him vs. Charles Dickens. He doesn't seem to get much attention in discussions of Victorian authors or if he does, it's only because of The Moonstone and The Woman and White. I'm happy you mentioned Armadale - I loved that book and I think Ozias Midwinter is one of the most appealing characters ever. But my favorite one of his novels is the first one I ever read, Hide and Seek. I loved Valentine Blyth so much. Ironically, I wasn't that drawn to either The Moonstone or The Woman In White. But they were great books. I think Wilkie Collins was ahead of his time in a lot of ways, he was a great writer with a clear style, and I really enjoyed your video.

I love Willie Collins and Charles Dickens, but like you: Willie Collins tops Dickens by a little margin. They were friends and influenced one another. Gosh, I do wish I had a complete collection of all Willie Collins books as I do with Dickens, unfortunately I cannot find his complete works. Kind regards from GB.

I just love hearing you talk about books you love! I have been meaning to read Jezebel's Daughter for years. I'm hoping that it will happen soon. Man and Wife is on my short list because I just saw there is a new audiobook version of it by Nicholas Boulton. I have words for the person who wrote the spoiler filled synopsis for the Law and the Lady 🤬

Great recommendations and look forward to all these.

This was excellent and so helpful!

I love that more book tubers do videos on Wilkie Collins. I love his writing ❤️. Great video 🌹🌹🌹.

I think you'll enjoy Poor Miss Finch too.

Another great video Jennifer. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Found your channel when you did your collaboration with Kate Howe and I just love your content! I have watched many of your older videos and love your American Revolution series. Can’t wait to see what you will be doing next. Keep up the great work!

This was a fantastic video-thanks Jennifer! I’ve not picked up a Collins book before, but definitely will now. My teen was eating his breakfast while I was watching this and thought the way you read Woman in White sounded really cool. Cheers!

I’m reading No Name right now and I am absolutely loving it!

Found this channel yesterday by chance and by coincidence, I absolutely love Wilkie Collins. Woman in White and Armadale probably my favourite books of all time. The only others that I have read that aren’t on your list are Basil and Man and Wife. Both are great but I really loved Basil, something really resonated with me with that book, although it is shorter. Man and wife is a lot longer and has a fantastic ending. Can’t wait to read my next Collins novel!

This was so helpful Jennifer as I’ve read and loved The Woman in White and The Moonstone and didn’t know where to go next as I’ve heard such varying opinions of his other novels. I don’t think you read ebooks but I have the Delphi Classics Collected Works of Wilkie Collins which has Antonina and all of his published works including short stories, plays and non fiction.

Never clicked so fast on a video- love Wilkie Collins. So far this Victober I’ve read a novella by him called The guilty river which was ok but didn’t blow me away, and I’m about a third through Man and Wife now and I’m really loving that. I think A Woman in White will always be my favourite but I just really get on with his writing style so I just lap up whatever I read by him. Hoping to get to No Name as well this Victober but we’ll have to see xx

Just last year I met this author 💖 and I was certainly amazed by his prose and the captivating of his stories, but above all I love the characters he creates, they do not seem flat or boring like some of the current mystery book characters🤭 I have only read two of his books: The Woman in White which I liked a lot, but for me it was a bit long, however I really enjoyed reading it and thinking theories about the ending. I also read Basil and I was simply fascinated by this book🙈, the main character tells you from the future a story of revenge and resentment in a way that caught me in a big way so I couldn't stop reading. 😅 I highly recommend Basil to those who like a compelling story, full of mystery, well written and not so extensive.📖❤️ Great video Jennifer, thanks for talking about this wonderful Victorian author.🌻

Thank you for making this video. It’s an excellent guide to start with This author. I think I’ll try The Law and the Lady first.

Wilkie Collins himself agreed with you as his tombstone reads: 'Author of The Woman in White'.

How about the superb timing of this video! A friend and I are doing a Woman in white buddy read.

I love Collins! I read Woman in White and Moonstone a couple years ago and was instantly hooked. Just finished Man and Wife last week and currently halfway through Law and the Lady. I only skimmed your video because I am afraid of spoilers 😬

Thank you for your thoughts on Wilkie Collins. I just finished my first, The Moonstone, and loved it, so I really want to dive in and read more. I have a copy of The Woman in White, maybe I should read it by candlelight, too. I think I'll read something else first, though, since you rank it as his best.

Great job *&* great timing (im 400pgs into TWIW)- & its so great to be able to take a break & come here & watch this! Your thoughts & analysis are always just so rich & valuable as this is my first WC. Im not sure crime mystery thrillers etc are my thing genre wise, but i can totally see why this is such a 5 star hit for most. Marian Halcombe & Fosco are brilliant characters! The writing is perfect however.. it wouldnt surprise me one of his 'lesser' works got under my skin more.. still 260pgs yet though! No Name, Armadale & TDSecret all have a pull.. 😊

I loved The Woman in White and it’s in my favorites of all time as well, and enjoyed the Moonstone but I’ve never really known where to go next with Wilkie Collins. I’ll have to check out Armadale next!

This was super interesting! I am not a modern mystery reader myself but I was compelled to check at least a Wilkie Collins novel and I’ve actually randomly purchased the Woman in White (still waiting for it to arrive in the mail) because it was half price.. I guess I should start from the very best then 🙃 hoping is not going to be as it was with Daphne Du Maurier where I was kinda let down by the rest of her novels after reading Rebecca and The Birds and other stories. But, hey, I still am excited to finish all her works so maybe it’s not a bad thing after all! Curiously I thought The Woman in White was a super short book 🤣 but I do love chunky ones so it’s a nice surprise!

I’m reading Man and Wife for Victober and like it so far! I think you would too.

Antonina is available in different formats at Amazon. Thank you for this review! I like his work. I've read Moonstone, The Woman in White (❤), and a current read - The Legacy of Cain.

I LOVE Wilkie Collins! Dickens is too contrived for me, but Collins delivers the same type of Victorian novel but with more well-rounded characters. Woman in White is definitely my fave. Marian is so bad-ass. I mean, this is a Victorian novel, and yet at one point she climbs out on to a roof in pouring rain to spy on the bad guys. I never imagined a woman in a Victorian novel would be so physically daring! And Count Fosco is so charming but evil yet CHARMING, and yet the MOST DISTURBING EVIL! I've read other Collins, but I think I briefly OD'd on him and stalled out about half way through Armadale. I do need to pick it up again, though. Another you don't mention is Poor Miss Finch. The titular character is blind, and at one point her sight is restored. Collins did a lot of research on this, and so what she goes through is very accurate. But it's also very -- I'm not sure how to say it. I have a deaf son, and the issue is similar. For people with some disabilities, like deafness and blindness, they are actually quite capable and confident, and don't see their disabilities as disabling. Miss Finch is very happy and capable when she's blind. But when her sight is restored, she has to relearn things she previously knew how to do - like walk around town or write. She loses all her confidence and becomes really unhappy. Of course, there is also a sinister plot involving identical twins that further throws a wrench into her works, but this novel about disability is surprisingly "modern." He wrote another novel (I haven't read it yet and forget the title) with a deaf character. She is not the main character, but for obvious reasons I'm really interested to read that as well.

I just finished my first Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White. Just my first impressions: lots of Victorian propriety (if an unmarried man is attracted to a woman who is engaged it's B-A-D BAD). Lots of eavesdropping, lots of sneaking around. The Count is the straw that stirs the drink, who comes up with the ideas to keep the plot moving. The scene at the grave site was a shocker worth the price of admission. A good mystery but you need to be patient to get through it. If I should tackle another Collins, it will be The Moonstone based on your description. Sounds like another good mystery. I need to be prepare myself mentally, however, before I deep-dive into these monstrous Victorian novels.

I'm starting with Armadale. It's partly because it's the one I have in trade paperback.

Great video! My favourites so far are "The Woman in White" and "No Name", and I'll try to read "Armadale", prompted by your recommendation! I'd love to read "Man and Wife" too!

Glad to see this. Especially the spoiler warning for Lady and the Law. I think I've been saving Woman in White and Moonstone for a rainy day because I didn't want to "run out" of good Collins books too soon. By the way, from what I can tell the short story contribution was The Haunted House. Haunted Hotel seems to be a full length WC novel. Still might be terrible.

Dear presenter...when I was a high school student and learning ENGLISH, I took a fancy to Collins. I have studied the Woman in White and the Moonstone twice apiece. I have 2 copies of each. I have talked to Collins and Thonas Hardy twice in my dream back in 2008 as a university student. I love them both. I have also studied the Dead Secret and The Law and the Lady. Collins never wrote a bad LINE. I was never able to find Basil or Armadale or No Name in Iran. Unfortunately these are inaccessible over here. Anyway I can't find them?

Jennifer : I mostly agree with you . His short stories are just as ingenious as the novels . My only point of difference is regarding Armadale . The first 1/3 rd sets up a terrific cathartic , nerve shredding denouement BUT then the plot becomes more and more ridiculous . Midwinter changes character completely and then it's just coincidence after coincidence until the OTT ending .! Ok...it's well written and keeps its grip on you but at the end you do shake your head. Not sure that large doses of laudanum really " inspired " him as he claims .? Seems more as though they drained his powers of concentration ??

I am currently reading No Name and I am absolutely in love with the book. I am only on the second part and I like both Norah and Magdalen- but I just love the youngest sister more. I have already read both The Woman in White and The Moonstone and love both of those books as well. This video is over a year old... have you picked up anything else by Wilkie Collins? I wanted to read Poor Miss Finch for this year's Victober but real life demanded that I had to focus on that and I didn't get any reading done. Apparently, it's got very good disability rep since the main character is blind, I think? Looking forward to reading Jezebel's Daughter and The Dead Secret.

Antonina is available at Gutenberg.

I think my favorite is The Moonstone but I have just finished Basil, and Poor Miss Finch and enjoyed both of them. The introduction to Basil in my ebook gave away most of the plot, so I am now skipping all intros! I have also read The Woman in White and loved it as well.

you should read Poor miss Finch...that was one of my favorites...

I read The Haunted Hotel and I liked it. But it was a long time ago, so I don’t know if I would like it now.

I love that the woman in white has a side romance. Does any of his other sensation novels have romance as a sub genre?? I absolutely loved the mystery and gothic nature, but I enjoyed the sub romance as well 😍 I have been looking for books like this ever since I read the woman in white. But I haven’t read anything else by him.

Why do I have to keep pressing the Subscribe button each time ? Anyway, apparently it worked this time.....will see on next visit 😊

oh, and which edition of the Law and the Lady do you have? I don't want to get that one, lol!

I really liked The Moonstone and The Woman in White, but I didn't like Armadale. Now I'm not sure if I should read No Name. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered his best books and Armadale let me down so much that I don't know if it's all downhill from here.

Man and Wife is my least favorite Collins Novel.

I have a similar list to you. Definitely a big 4 in Armadale, Woman in White, The Moonstone and No-Name. All brilliant. I give the nod, though, to Armadale, simply because it is the most sensational Victorian novel of them all - he throws everything into this one - and it's so much fun. My only real disappointment from the eight I have read has been the Queen of Hearts as it is, essentially, a number of short stories grouped together within a thin overarching plot.Rankings are: 1. Armadale 2. Woman in White 3. The Moonstone 4. No-Name 5. The Dead Secret 6. Jezebel's Daughter 7. The Law and the Lady 8. The Queen of Hearts