No Name

I have read quite a lot of Victorian fiction and this is a real gem from the originator of the detective novel.An intriguing plot about disinheritence, disguise, women's rights and good old-fashioned skullduggery is mixed with wonderfully drawn characters like Captain Wragge and the heroine Madeline.For me, at least the equal of his more famous works.Enjoy!

Typical long winded Victorian novel but that said I enjoyed the story. An unusual story about the problems with inheritance and illegitimacy, a controversial subject for the author to have chosen I think. The satisfactory conclusion was slightly contrived. Anthony Trollope is still my favourite Victorian author but Wilkie Collins is a close second.

This is the third Wilkie Collins I have read in quick succession, and each of them has kept me spellbound to the end. The first of the 'sensation' novelists; so called due to their innovation, and also to the very physical sensations produced on the readers by the suspense. The novel explores familiar themes of illegitimacy, wills and the quest for justice in an extremely patriarchal legal system. As usual, the depth of Wilkie's characters are truly joyous to behold, and the headstrong, unpredictable, passionate female lead is breathtaking in her audacity.I am at a loss to discover why other great writers form the period (such as Dickens) have such an enduringly high profile, while geniuses such as Collins tend to fly under the radar.You will love it!

You never judge a book my its cover, but most of us will select a cover we like even when we are looking for a specific title. The book arrived with a different and creased cover, I would not call this' very good condition' I would have preferred the cover illustrated here and not the one I received.

Very disappointed! This was an incredibly difficult read. The plot didn't need to take so long to discuss. Glad to finish

The text for this edition seems to have been taken from a poor translation of a translation. It makes no sense. "The prepare dinner" is actually a cook. The original book is available as a pdf scanned edition, much better.

Tedious - too drawn out!

George Mahood is an extremely inventive, creative, funny and enjoyable writer. The subject of his work is so unurual. Imagine starting at Land's End on a trip to Scotland with nothing but boxer shorts, hoping you would find or be given bicycles, clothes, food and whatever you needed to sustain yourself on your journey (Free Country, A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain). In this book "Operation Ironman: One Man's Four Month Journey From Hospital Bed to Ironman Triathlon," as the title says, he begins with back pain, which is eventually diagnosed and eventually operated on. He had to stay face down for four days while his stitches healed. As soon as he got out of hospital, he set his sites on a Triathlon in France four months in the future. In two of the three sports, swimming and cycling, he had very little experience or basic aptitude, and running he had done, but not to the extent the triathlon would require. He keeps the reader's attention to the very end as we struggle through training and pain with him and his family, who were first appalled and then supportive.

Thought provoking and timely

Captivating story of tragedy, injustice, greed, unsympathetic relatives, as well as conspiracy, counter conspiracy, and strategies to get justice for themselves, and worm the money from the ungenerous and greedy rich, only to wreck physical and emotional damage to body and soul. This is written in the language of Charles Dickens or Sherlock Holmes, or just old English if that makes sense. I never lost track of the main story in the details of the scenes, and It was good to read something than contemporary stories. This was well edited for ebooks and I totally enjoyed this story.Thank you for this free to me book. I'd be happy to get more by Wilkie Collins.

No name may not be his best but certainly Collins has crafted a good tale worth reading. In typical style the first half of the book establishes character and setting which makes for a slow start but then the book really becomes a work worth reading

As many Wilkie Collins works "No Name" is utterly captivating, well written, and ... unbelievable. But does this matter? It was written to entertain, and that it does splendidly. If there are a few twists too many, and there are, well, who cares? There is neither violence nor sexual content in the modern, graphic sense. There are undercurrents, and these are far more agreeable than the bang-bang or bang away of modern entertainment, so dismayingly uniform that one of necessity fights sleep. Not here! It's a robust Collins page turner.