Saturday 10 March 2012

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins


My first introduction to Wilkie Collins was through his most famous novel, The Woman In White, which I read and loved in my pre-blogging days.  I enjoyed it so much I promised myself I would read another Collins novel before too long, but it's only now, years later, that I've picked up The Moonstone.  And I'm pleased to report that it was worth the wait.

The Moonstone is about a cursed Indian yellow diamond, plundered from a sacred site by Englishman John Herncastle.  On his death he bequeaths the stone to his niece, heiress Rachel Verinder, as an act of spite towards her mother, in full knowledge that Rachel will now become the target of plots and murderous Hindu priests.  Rachel receives the stone on her birthday but it is stolen on the very same night.  With relatives, servants and Hindu priests in the frame, who stole the diamond and what happened to it?

Collins is one of those authors I recommend to people who think that classic novels are slow, boring, pretentious and stuffy.  Both The Woman In White and The Moonstone are fast-paced, sensational and completely unputdownable.  In The Moonstone, there is suicide, murder, disguise, sinister intentions and cursed jewels.  It's an adventure-mystery that was a blockbuster on publication and remains a gripping read to this day;

"If he was right, here was our quiet English house suddenly invaded by a devilish Indian Diamond - bringing after it a conspiracy of living rogues, set loose on us by the vengeance of a dead man." (p33)

It goes without saying that the book was well written and like The Woman In White, it's written from the viewpoint of several witnesses, on the behest of a relative of Rachel's who is attempting to clear his own name.  I very much enjoyed this writing style as Collins had made each of the narrators distinct from each other; it felt like many people were telling the story, not just the author.  My favourite narrator was Rachel's relative Miss Clack, an evangelical Christian who was bent on converting everyone around her.

The mystery was well thought out too, on several occasions I thought I had worked out who had stolen the stone only for events to completely change my mind.  The resolution when it came was a surprise, mainly because it was so rooted in Victorian sensibilities.  In fact, that's my only criticism of this book; the big reveal is something that I think could only be appreciated by Victorian readers as 'science' has changed so much now, so this part of the novel felt a little dated. 

I must also say how much I enjoyed the edition I read (Oxford World's Classics).  The notes were informative and the introduction was a good example of a well written essay on the book.  Once I finished the story, I went back and read the introduction and notes (this turned out to be the right way round to do things as there were spoilers) and felt like I gained a lot of knowledge about the author and how the book was written.  I was aware that Collins was friends with Dickens but didn't know how much they influenced each other or how addicted Collins was to opium, a fact which explained quite a lot about The Moonstone.  So if you are looking to purchase this book, I'd recommend the Oxford edition.

Verdict: Gripping read about the sensational theft of a cursed Indian diamond.
Source: Library
First Published: 1868
Score: 4.5 out of 5

22 comments:

  1. Sam,
    Oh my gosh... I loved The Woman in White and have sworn to also tackle The Moonstone. It's funny that you say you give this to people who don't typically enjoy classics, because I gave my friend The Woman in White this past October for the same reason and she loved it. This review makes me think I should try snagging a copy a little sooner. Glad you enjoyed this one, Sam!

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    1. If you enjoyed Woman in White you will LOVE The Moonstone. Glad your friend was converted to classics by Wilkie! :)

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  2. I also loved The Woman in White and have not yet read The Moonstone even though many people told how good it is.

    Collins was a good friend of Dickens and it shows in his writing.

    http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

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    1. If you liked Woman In White I can guarantee you will like this one.
      The only Dickens I have ever read is A Christmas Carol, but seeing how much Collins was influenced by Dickens, I think I should try one of Dickens longer novels.

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    2. Eww! Haha. I'm on the fence with Dickens. I read Hard Times and I certainly had a hard time finishing. Ha. I crack myself up. I'll be interested to see reviews if you decide to brave it!

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    3. I am going to brave it but I have a bit of a prejudice against him. Time for my opinions to change I think :P

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  3. Loved this a long time ago - must revisit after reading your post!

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    1. I imagine it's great to revisit, I'm sure in five or ten years time I will feel the urge to read this one again.

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  4. I haven't read any Wilkie Collins and I really should. Thanks for adding another book to my TBR pile!! LOL I

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    1. You should. Start with The Woman in White, and then move on to this one. Let me know what you think if you do get around to reading either of them :)

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  5. Yep, I need to read some Wilkie Collins! I confess I always think classics are relatively slow and dull, but would love to be proved wrong! :-)

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    1. Mel,
      Wilkie will definitely prove you wrong! Try the Woman in White first, in my opinion it's the better of the two I have read.

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  6. I've just read The Woman in White and loved it. I need to move on to this one as well. You might be interested in the Dan Simmons novel 'Drood'. In this, Wilkie Collins is the narrator and he tells the story of the last years of Dickens' life. The Moonstone is mentioned a lot in this novel as well as The Woman in White. I absolutely loved Drood - although I think it is best if you read 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' by Dickens before reading it.

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    1. Christina,
      Glad you enjoyed The Woman in White too, you will most definitely enjoy this one too.
      Drood is now on my wishlist :)

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  7. I read The Moonstone years ago and loved it but never got around to The Woman in White until 2010 - loved that too. Glad you enjoyed them too.

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    1. Cat,
      As you read them the other way round, which was your favourite? Mine is Woman in White, but I think that's mainly because I got to it first.

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  8. This sounds like a lot of fun! I must bump this author up my tbr list.

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    1. Lindsey,
      We tend to have quite similar tastes so I think this author would be right up your street :)

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  9. The Moonstone was my first Wilkie Collins novel and I absolutely loved it! The Woman in White was almost as good, and I hope to read another later this year... maybe No Name.

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  10. I'm looking forward to reading this one day, perhaps even this fall during RIP season!

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  11. I still have not read The Woman in White. It is on my list, but simply have never gotten to it. This one sounds amazing. I am going to read this one as well. It is going on my TBR right now. Thanks for the great review.
    -FABR Steph@FiveAlarmBookReviews

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  12. I read the woman in white and the secret (I am not too sure about the english title as I read it in french). I really like W. Collins and the moonstone would be on my wish list.

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