"Shall I tell you what a lady is? A lady is a woman who wears a silk gown, and has a sense of her own importance." Wilkie Collins's investigation of illegitimacy and 'the woman question' in No Name (1862) compels with a wholly different order of suspense from that of The Woman in White or The Moonstone. For its family secret - the Vanstone daughters' illegitimacy, their consequent disinheritance and fall from social grace - is revealed early on, and as Magdalen Vanstone struggles to reclaim her identity, the plot uncovers many a moral, social and legal skeleton in the cupboards of Victorian society. Mercurial and unscrupulous, Magdalen is Wilkie Collins's most exhilarating heroine, one of the rare subversives in Victorian fiction and a woman dazzlingly versatile in her powers of self-transformation. Through her, with great comic vigour, No Name exposes how social identity is constructed, and how it can be dismantled, buried, borrowed or invented. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins was a prominent English novelist and playwright in the 19th century, known for his innovative detective fiction and sensational novels. His most notable works include "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone," which are considered classics in the mystery genre. Collins was a pioneer in incorporating elements of suspense, intrigue, and psychological depth into his storytelling, influencing later writers like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. His intricate plots, complex characters, and vivid descriptions continue to captivate readers today, cementing his legacy as a master of Victorian literature.
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