Other editions of book The Evil Genius

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Collins' most financially successful novel, The Evil Genius, opens with a jury determining the fate of a sea captain whose ship allegedly facilitated a diamond theft. The story develops into a powerful novel of Victorian private life, including deception, adultery and divorce.An "evil genius" is threatening to rip apart the fabric of the Linley home. Who is it and why? Is it the orphaned young governess for whom the father lusts; the brother-in-law who appears to help everyone, but succeeds often in making things worse; the meddling mother-in-law whose good intentioned interferences lead to greater heartache; the disloyal father, or perhaps the unassuming daughter?

Collins' most financially successful novel, The Evil Genius, opens with a jury determining the fate of a sea captain whose ship allegedly facilitated a diamond theft. The story develops into a powerful novel of Victorian private life, including deception, adultery and divorce. William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866), and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Born into the family of painter William Collins in London, he lived with his family in Italy and France as a child and learned French and Italian. He worked as a clerk for a tea merchant. After his first novel, Antonina, was published in 1850, he met Charles Dickens, who became a close friend, mentor and collaborator. Some of Collins's works were first published in Dickens' journals All the Year Round and Household Words and the two collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins published his best known works in the 1860s, achieved financial stability and an international reputation. During that time he began suffering from gout. After taking opium for the pain, he developed an addiction. During the 1870s and 1880s the quality of his writing declined along with his health.Collins was critical of the institution of marriage and never married; he split his time between Caroline Graves, except for a two-year separation, and his common-law wife Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.Collins was born at 11 New Cavendish Street, Marylebone, London, the son of a well-known Royal Academician landscape painter, William Collins and his wife, Harriet Geddes. Named after his father, he swiftly became known by his second name, which honoured his godfather, David Wilkie. The family moved to Pond Street, Hampstead, in 1826. In 1828 Collins's brother Charles Allston Collins was born. Between 1829 and 1830, the Collins family moved twice, first to Hampstead Square and then to Porchester Terrace, Bayswater.Wilkie and Charles received their early education from their mother at home. The Collins family was deeply religious, and Collins's mother enforced strict church attendance on her sons, which Wilkie disliked.In 1835, Collins began attending school at the Maida Vale academy. From 1836 to 1838, he lived with his parents in Italy and France, which made a great impression on him. He learned Italian while the family was in Italy and began learning French, in which he would eventually become fluent.From 1838 to 1840, he attended the Reverend Cole's private boarding school in Highbury, where he was bullied by a boy who would force Collins to tell him a story before allowing him to go to sleep. "It was this brute who first awakened in me, his poor little victim, a power of which but for him I might never have been aware...When I left school I continued story telling for my own pleasure", Collins later said.In 1840 the family moved to 85 Oxford Terrace, Bayswater. In late 1840, he left school and was apprenticed as a clerk to the firm of tea merchants Antrobus & Co, owned by a friend of Wilkie's father. He disliked his clerical work but remained employed by the company for more than five years. Collins's first story The Last Stage Coachman, was published in the Illuminated Magazine in August 1843.In 1844 he travelled to Paris with Charles Ward. That same year he wrote his first novel, Iolani, or Tahiti as It Was; a Romance, which was submitted to Chapman and Hall but rejected in 1845. The novel remained unpublished during his lifetime.Collins said of it: "My youthful imagination ran riot among the noble savages, in scenes which caused the respectable British publisher to declare that it was impossible to put his name on the title page of such a novel.....

Kitty is the child of Herbert and Catherine Linley, a spoiled, coddled little girl who is at the same time-in the tradition of all Victorian children-adorable. The Evil Genius begins with the story of Kitty's ill-fated governess Sydney Westerfield, a girl thrown aside in the grand tradition of Jane Eyre and David Copperfield.And now an "evil genius" is threatening to rip apart the fabric of the Linley home. Who is it, and why? Is it the orphaned young governess, Sydney, for whom the father lusts? The brother-in-law who appears to help everyone but often succeeds in making things worse? The meddling mother-in-law whose good-intentioned interferences lead to greater heartache? The disloyal father? Or perhaps it is the unassuming daughter.

The Evil Genius is a thriller novel that was written by Wilkie Collins. The action centers around Mr. Linley's infidelity and the consequences that arise. Wilkie Collins was a prominent English writer in the 19th century. Collins was a close friend of Charles Dickens and his books were often featured in Dickens' journals All the Year Round and Household Words. Collins' books still enjoy wide popularity, especially mystery and detective novels such as The Woman in White, The Moonstone, and Armadale.

"A compelling story of the turbulence of family life". - BOOKLIST When Sydney Westerfield's mother marries again and emigrates to America, she leaves her daughter in the care of her unmarried sister, who runs a school in London. The formidable Miss Wigger sees her only as someone she can exploit, and Sydney becomes drawn and pale as this bitter life takes its toll. Sydney secretly advertizes for a position as a governess and Herbert Linley comes to seek her services. For the first time, she finds heartfelt compassion and sympathy and accepts his offer of employment in Scotland. Will the gratitude she feels towards her rescuer remain untainted by more complicated passions, or will the family live to repent her engagement?

Collins' most financially successful novel, The Evil Genius, opens with a jury determining the fate of a sea captain whose ship allegedly facilitated a diamond theft. The story develops into a powerful novel of Victorian private life, including deception, adultery and divorce.An "evil genius" is threatening to rip apart the fabric of the Linley home. Who is it and why? Is it the orphaned young governess for whom the father lusts; the brother-in-law who appears to help everyone, but succeeds often in making things worse; the meddling mother-in-law whose good intentioned interferences lead to greater heartache; the disloyal father, or perhaps the unassuming daughter?

Mark Twain once famously said "there was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering, and that was the fact that it is past and can't be restored." Well, over recent years, The British Library, working with Microsoft has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collection of 19th century books.There are now 65,000 titles available (that's an incredible 25 million pages) of material ranging from works by famous names such as Dickens, Trollope and Hardy as well as many forgotten literary gems , all of which can now be printed on demand and purchased right here on Amazon.Further information on The British Library and its digitisation programme can be found on The British Library website.