Other editions of book The Dead Secret

The secret of the title is the parentage of the heroine, Rosamund Treverton, who has been passed off as the daughter of the wealthy former actress Mrs Treverton of Porthgenna Tower, but is in fact the illegitimate child of her servant Sarah Leeson by a local miner (Mrs Treverton's motive was to provide her husband with a child, being apparently unable to bear children herself). Sarah writes down the details of the secret from the words of the dying Mrs Treverton, and hides the paper bearing the message in an unused room at Porthgenna. The novel then jumps forward some twenty years. Rosamund has married the blind Leonard Frankland, who now owns Porthgenna Tower. Sarah, under an assumed name, obtains a post as servant to the family, and gives Rosamund a cryptic warning to avoid the room in which the Secret is hidden.

The secret of the title is the parentage of the heroine, Rosamund Treverton, who has been passed off as the daughter of the wealthy former actress Mrs Treverton of Porthgenna Tower, but is in fact the illegitimate child of her servant Sarah Leeson by a local miner (Mrs Treverton’s motive was to provide her husband with a child, being apparently unable to bear children herself). Sarah writes down the details of the secret from the words of the dying Mrs Treverton, and hides the paper bearing the message in an unused room at Porthgenna.

The Dead Secret was Wilkie Collins’ fourth published novel.The Secret of the title is the parentage of the heroine, Rosamond Treverton, who has been passed off as the daughter of the wealthy former actress Mrs Treverton of Porthgenna Tower, but is in fact the illegitimate child of her servant Sarah Leeson by a local miner (Mrs Treverton’s motive was to provide her husband with a child, being apparently unable to bear children herself). Sarah writes down the details of the Secret from the words of the dying Mrs Treverton, and hides the paper bearing the message in an unused room at Porthgenna.

"The secret between us will remain a Dead Secret to the end of the world." On her deathbed, a mother reveals a secret that will haunt her daughter's life, as she stumbles near its hidden venom, never guessing the danger lurking just an unintended consequence away. From the master of plot comes a tale that surprised even Charles Dickens with its ending. The Dead Secret was first serialized in Charles Dickens’ Household Words, from January until June of 1857. Later that year, the novel was published in a single volume by Bardbury and Evans. In 1874, in honor of Wilkie Collins’ visit to the United States, Harper & Brothers published an illustrated edition of the novel.

What is this Dead Secret?Mrs. Treverton is dying. She gives to her servant Sarah a letter for her husband. Exhausted, she doesn’t want to bring this Secret in the grave. Sarah can not deliver this missive to her grieving master and her only five-year-old daughter Rosamond. She hides it in one of the rooms of the house and she disappears ...Fifteen years later, Rosamond understands that the house of her childhood hides a secret and she will do anything to find out ... Wilkie Collins, a remarkable observer of his time, knows how to portray these tortured souls. This novel is a classic that has kept all its charm and definitely, is a brilliantly written Masterpiece. The process of unveiling this secret is strewn with pitfalls, detours and false tracks.

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The Dead Secret was Wilkie Collins’ fourth published novel.The Secret of the title is the parentage of the heroine, Rosamond Treverton, who has been passed off as the daughter of the wealthy former actress Mrs Treverton of Porthgenna Tower, but is in fact the illegitimate child of her servant Sarah Leeson by a local miner (Mrs Treverton’s motive was to provide her husband with a child, being apparently unable to bear children herself). Sarah writes down the details of the Secret from the words of the dying Mrs Treverton, and hides the paper bearing the message in an unused room at Porthgenna.

The Dead Secret begins with the death bed confession of Mrs Treverton that will take her family by storm. The maid, Sarah Leeson, against the dying wish of Mrs Treverton, hides the letter, and thus the disaster is delayed but not averted. Rosamond, her daughter, who is married to a blind man, gives birth prematurely and is doomed to be the worst hit by the dying confession, which details buried secrets and the relationship of a fallen woman with her illegitimate daughter.