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Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins’s Followers (2,918)

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Wilkie Collins


Born
in Marylebone, London, England, The United Kingdom
January 08, 1824

Died
September 23, 1889

Website

Genre
Fiction, Mystery, Travel

Influences
Charles Dickens


Wilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright, best known for The Woman in White (1860), an early sensation novel, and The Moonstone (1868), a pioneering work of detective fiction. Born to landscape painter William Collins and Harriet Geddes, he spent part of his childhood in Italy and France, learning both languages. Initially working as a tea merchant, he later studied law, though he never practiced. His literary career began with Antonina (1850), and a meeting with Charles Dickens in 1851 proved pivotal. The two became close friends and collaborators, with Collins contributing to Dickens' journals and co-writing dramatic works.
Collins' success peaked in the 1860s with novels that combined suspense with social critique, includin ...more

Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.93 · 330,580 ratings · 24,924 reviews · 2,290 distinct works • Similar authors
The Woman in White
4.01 avg rating — 165,031 ratings — published 1859 — 2562 editions
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The Moonstone
3.91 avg rating — 98,376 ratings — published 1868 — 9 editions
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No Name
3.96 avg rating — 10,001 ratings — published 1862 — 514 editions
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Armadale
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3.95 avg rating — 7,269 ratings — published 1866 — 313 editions
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The Haunted Hotel: A Myster...
3.43 avg rating — 8,234 ratings — published 1879 — 661 editions
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The Law and the Lady
3.79 avg rating — 3,377 ratings — published 1875 — 546 editions
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The Dead Secret
3.73 avg rating — 2,882 ratings — published 1856 — 481 editions
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Basil
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3.70 avg rating — 2,439 ratings — published 1852 — 3 editions
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Man and Wife
3.94 avg rating — 1,451 ratings — published 1870 — 207 editions
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Poor Miss Finch
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3.79 avg rating — 1,221 ratings — published 1872 — 342 editions
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More books by Wilkie Collins…

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Quotes by Wilkie Collins  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“The books - the generous friends who met me without suspicion - the merciful masters who never used me ill!”
― Wilkie Collins, Armadale
tags: books
1769 likes
Like

“My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.”
― Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White
tags: afternoon, schedule, tea, toast
848 likes
Like

“Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper.”
― Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White
tags: argument, control, dispute, empowerment, intelligence, men, self-control, superiority, wit, women
734 likes
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Polls

April 2015 Old School Classics Poll

Which book would you like to read for our April 2015 Old School Classics group read?

1868, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 449 pages
 
  15 votes, 31.3%

 
  15 votes, 31.3%

1868, The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, 528 pages
 
  5 votes, 10.4%

 
  5 votes, 10.4%

1877, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 245 pages
 
  4 votes, 8.3%

 
  3 votes, 6.3%

1842, Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, 464 pages
 
  1 vote, 2.1%

48 total votes
More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Glens Falls (NY) ...: _The Woman in White_ by Wilkie Collins (1859) 1 38 Jul 09, 2009 07:59AM  
The Next Best Boo...: Must Read Classics 36 392 Sep 01, 2009 05:04AM  
The Book Challenge: Meghan's Other 2009 Challenges 11 262 Oct 31, 2009 09:58AM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. FALL CHALLENGE 2009 COMPLETED TASKS 3942 2762 Nov 30, 2009 09:01PM  
Glens Falls (NY) ...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Have you seen any good movies lately? (Part TWO - begun 1/23/09) 1139 346 Jan 01, 2010 06:31PM  
The Next Best Boo...: JG's 2009 Reading List 30 404 Jan 10, 2010 10:30PM  
The Next Best Boo...: Classics... You Want To Read. 119 841 Feb 21, 2010 11:18AM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. WINTER CHALLENGE 2009-2010 COMPLETED TASKS 3143 3263 Feb 28, 2010 09:02PM