The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel. It is an early modern example of the detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. The story was serialised in Charles Dickens's magazine All the Year Round. Collins adapted The Moonstone for the stage in 1877. Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. The diamond is ...
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The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel. It is an early modern example of the detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. The story was serialised in Charles Dickens's magazine All the Year Round. Collins adapted The Moonstone for the stage in 1877. Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. The diamond is of great religious significance and extremely valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond or the Koh-i-Noor diamond). Rachel's eighteenth birthday is celebrated with a large party at which the guests include her cousin Franklin Blake. She wears the Moonstone on her dress that evening for all to see, including some Indian jugglers who have called at the house. Later that night the diamond is stolen from Rachel's bedroom, and a period of turmoil, unhappiness, misunderstandings and ill luck ensues. Told by a series of narratives from some of the main characters, the complex plot traces the subsequent efforts to explain the theft, identify the thief, trace the stone and recover it. (wikipedia.org)
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It appears one must step back in time for the greater mystery stories and writers and almost the further back, the better. Perhaps it is the quieter, gentler era when people employed time creatively, actually thinking and allowing ideas and themes to develop. This is a book that must be owned. It truly warrants regular re-readings to explore its many facets.
kirving
Nov 12, 2009
This classic novel is one of the original detective stories. The writing style is not always easy for the modern reader to follow. The story moves very slowly in parts. The type in the edition I had was very small and made reading a challenge. It is not a book I would read again.
LawMan
Mar 12, 2008
The First in a Long Line
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins was the first in a new genre of intelligent, thoughtful mysteries. The influence of this book can be seen in works by Doyle, Christie and many others. The story line is fairly simple. A cursed diamond finds it way to an Upper class English girl as a birthday present.. It is stolen and the balance of the book deals with the reconstruction of the crime and recovery of the stone. The author takes the reader on this journey by describing each segment of the case through the eyes of a different character. The book thus speaks with many voices, all unique, all interconnected and all displaying their unique set of biases and prejudices. Collins "super sleuth" will remind the reader of Sherlock Holmes and may well have served as an informal model for that legendary detective. The story, character development and overall writing are first class. And, although set in the mid 19th Century has much to attract and hold the modern reader. Collins weaves a wonderfully intricate story. However, if you need gratuitous violence, a body strewn landscape and a rough talking, crass narrator, stick to the Evening News, this is not the book for you.
