The Moonstone A Romance Wilkie Collins Francis Ogorman by Wilkie Collins & Francis O'gorman 9780198819394, 9780192551450, 0198819390, 0192551450 instant download after payment.

Edited by Francis O'Gorman

Oxford World's Classics

The text is that of the 1871 corrected edition

The Introduction and Notes take into account the enormous amount of new material previously unavailable, including Collins's Letters, searchable periodicals, and publication of manuscript material

The Introduction sees the novel as a bravura exploration of mistaken judgments; as a plot that strikingly reflected Collins's own private life; and as a dazzling meditation on what can, but also importantly, cannot be merely made into sense

Three appendices provide a cartoon reaction to the conclusion of the novel in 1875; a detailed review of the dramatized version in 1877; and the long letter of advice that Collins received about how to manage the end of the novel

New to this Edition: New introduction, select bibliography and explanatory notes

Called "the first and greatest of English detective novels" by T.S.Eliot, The Moonstone is a masterpiece of suspense. A fabulous yellow diamond becomes the dangerous inheritance of Rachel Verinder. Outside her Yorkshire country house watch the Hindu priests who have waited for many years to reclaim their ancient talisman, looted from the holy city of Somnauth. When the Moonstone disappears the case looks simple, but in mid-Victorian England no one is what they seem, and nothing can be taken for granted.

Witnesses, suspects, and detectives each narrate the story in turn. The bemused butler, the love-stricken housemaid, the enigmatic detective Sergeant Cuff, the drug-addicted scientist--each speculate on the mystery as Collins weaves their narratives together. The Moonstone transcends the genre of detective novel or murder mystery, though, and this new edition features a fascinating introduction by John Sutherland which discusses the themes of imperialism, sensationalism and mesmerism.