Other editions of book Hide And Seek

After many years in the goldfields of California, Matthew Grice returns home to search for Mary, a disabled circus performer and the daughter of his dead sister. But everything is not what it seems as Matthew’s quest for the girl, and after, for the girl’s father, takes him on an unexpected journey filled with seduction, abandonment and hidden identities.HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

At the center of Hide and Seek (1854) a secret waits to be revealed. Why should the apparently respectable painter Valentine Blyth refuse to account for the presence in his household of the beautiful girl known only as Madonna? It is not until his young friend Zack Thorpe--rebelling against his repressive father--takes up with bad company and meets a mysterious stranger that the secret of Madonna can be unravelled.About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The novel has a convoluted plot, in common with many of Collins’ works.It falls into two parts: the history of “Madonna” Grice Matthew Grice’s discovery of her. Mary Grice is courted and seduced by a man calling himself Arthur Carr. Carr is called away on business, and his letters to Mary (presumably professing his honourable intentions toward her) are intercepted by Mary’s sister Joanna, who considers Carr to be socially inferior to the Grices. Joanna drives the pregnant, unmarried Mary from the family home. Mary gives birth to a daughter and dies miserably, attended only by performers from a travelling circus. Martha Peckover, wife of one of the clowns, adopts the baby (also Mary) and takes possession of her one heirloom, a bracelet made of Mary Sr.’s & Carr’s hair. Mary Jr. becomes a circus performer and is struck deaf and dumb after a riding accident, making her one of several of Collins’ characters with severe physical disabilities. She is exploited by the circus owner, and to rescue her Mrs Peckover takes her to the home of a minister, Dr Joyce. There Valentine Blyth, a painter, sees her and himself adopts her. Mary Jr. grows up beautiful and acquires the nickname Madonna for her resemblance to figures of the Virgin Mary in Italian Renaissance painting. She is admired by Valentine's friend Zack Thorpe, a high-spirited but vacuous young man somewhat resembling Allan Armadale in the novel of that name. Zack leaves home after disagreements with his ultra-religious and disciplinarian father. In a brawl in a disreputable theatre, Zack defends a man who turns out to be Matthew (Mat) Grice, Mary Sr.’s brother, and moves in with him. Mat has spent decades wandering the Americas, but returns home after making his fortune on the California goldfields. Mat's next concern is to find out the fate of his family. He establishes from Joanna that Mary Sr. is dead but her child was born alive. Mat decides to trace the child. Zack introduces Mat to Valentine, who invites Mat to sit for him as a model. In Valentine's house, Mat meets Madonna and also catches sight of a hair bracelet, which he suspects is originally Mary's. He secretly obtains a key to Valentine's bureau and on a visit to the house opens the bureau, identifies the bracelet and satisfies himself that Madonna is Mary's child. He is surprised in the act by Madonna but escapes by blowing out her candle, after which she can neither see nor hear him. Mat then sets about finding Arthur Carr. His efforts are hindered by Joanna's death and Mrs Peckover's disclosure that neither she nor Valentine know who he was. However Mat is struck by the resemblance between Carr's hair (of which he has obtained the part unused in the bracelet) and Zack's. He surmises that Carr is Zack's straitlaced father, confronts him and obtains his confession. Madonna is thus revealed as Zack's half-sister, and he can no longer court her. He accompanies Mat to the New World, but eventually persuades him to return home to his adoptive "family" of the Blyths (with whom Madonna remains) and Zack.

Dickens, Swinburne, and Macaulay all lavished praise on Hide and Seek, the third of Wilkie Collins’ novels (1854) and his first attempt at a mystery. In a letter to his sister-in-law, Dickens remarked: “I think it far and away the cleverest novel I have ever seen written by a new hand …. In short, I call it a very remarkable book.” In this early effort, we find Collins — considered English fiction’s first detective novelist — experimenting with the detective story and honing the skills of narrative and plot construction brought to such a high level in his later masterpieces, The Woman in White and The Moonstone.Besides its mystery-story elements, Hide and Seek succeeds as a warm, entertaining tale that blends domestic comedy, pathos, humor, and a smattering of social protest. It also enabled Collins to introduce a gallery of memorable characters: Mary Grice (nicknamed Madonna), the gentle deaf-mute whose mysterious origins and tragic early life form the basis of the novel; the engaging and voluble Zach Thorpe, of whom Mary is enamored; her guardian Valentine Blyth — a failure as an artist but a success as a human being — and Matthew Marksman, the strange and wild woodsman who finally unravels the shocking story of Mary’s true origins.Hide and Seek is a distinct departure from the lurid melodrama of Collins’ second novel, Basil, and a milestone in the author’s progress toward maturity as a novelist. In its pages readers will find the ingenious plot construction and storytelling skill that Collins felt to be the true calling of the novelist.Admirers of Wilkie Collins — and Victorian fiction in general — will savor the novel’s vivid descriptions of exciting events, its sustained power of imaginative suggestion, and the author’s shrewd and compassionate depiction of Victorian manners and morals.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Hide and Seek is the third novel written by Wilkie Collins. This thriller starts out with a young woman named Mary Grice who is seduced by a man who ends up getting called away on his business. What will happen when Mary finds out she is pregnant? 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.

William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and writer of short stories. He was hugely popular in his time, and wrote 27 novels, more than 50 short stories, at least 15 plays, and over 100 pieces of non-fiction work. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1860), The Moonstone (1868), Armadale (1866) and No Name (1862). His works were classified at the time as 'sensation novels', a genre seen nowadays as the precursor to detective fiction and suspense fiction. He also wrote penetratingly on the plight of women and on the social and domestic issues of his time. His novel, No Name combined social commentary - the absurdity of the law as it applied to children of unmarried parents - with a densely-plotted revenge thriller. Amongst his other works are: Basil (1852), Hide and Seek (1854), After the Dark (1856), The Frozen Deep (1857), The Queen of Hearts (1859), Man and Wife (1870), The New Magdalen (1873), The Law and the Lady (1875), The Two Destinies (1876), and A Rogue's Life (1879).

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.