Armadale

Wilkie Collins' suspense thriller "Armadale" contains no less than four main characters, named Allen Armadale - two fathers, each with a single son and heir. Only one Allen Armadale, however, is the rightful owner of the estate, Thorpe-Ambrose, plus a fortune in pounds sterling, and title to land and wealth in Barbados, West Indies. Although the plot sounds convoluted, if only by containing so many characters of the same name, I have to say this is compelling reading at its best, and the narrative is extremely understandable and well paced. The author is a master storyteller. Allen Armadale, (let's call him #2), makes a death bed confession in 1832, at the Swiss health resort of Wildbad. The only English speaker available to document the dying man's final words is a Scot, Mr. Neal. This shocking written disclosure is then mailed to Armadale's executors to be given to his infant son, (Allen Armadale #3), when he comes of age. Armadale, (#2), nee Wrentmore, was born in Barbados and upon turning twenty-one he received a surprise inheritance from his godfather, a Mr. Armadale, of Thorpe-Ambrose in Norfolk, England. The young man would become the owner of his godfather's considerable Barbadian estate on the condition that he change his name to match that of his benefactor. It was thus that Allen Wrentmore became Allen Armadale, the largest proprietor and wealthiest man on Barbados. The elder Armadale had just disinherited his own profligate son, Allen Armadale #1. The infamous son, going by the pseudonym Fergus Ingleby, turns up in Barbados shortly thereafter and befriends his distant cousin, the newest addition to the Armadale line. The consequences of this relationship are dire. Years later, another pair of Armadale men (#3 and #4), both in their early twenties, meet and become the best of friends. Although each has been warned never to come into contact with the other, there is, initially, no way for them to recognize each other's true identities. As with their forefathers, a generation before, a pseudonym is involved here. Unlike their fathers, however, both are totally innocent of malicious intent. All four Allen Armadales are connected by the most enigmatic, fascinating villainess that I know of in literature, Lydia Gwilt - although her name leaves much to be desired aesthetically. Miss Gwilt, perhaps fiction's first femme fatale, is a beautiful, sensual, flame-haired temptress. She is also a bigamist, dope addict, forger, and murderess....at the very least, and probably the book's most intelligent personage. Her intrigues drive the plot of this gripping drama: a tale of murder, espionage, counter-espionage, criminal fraud, adultery, inescapable destiny, romantic rivalries, confused identities, innumerable secrets and lies. Also included in the storyline is a chilling portrait of an abortionist with a bizarre clinic, which he utilizes with lethal intent. Amazingly, Mr Collins' book was published in 1866...and we complain about too much crim

Collins' efforts with his justly famed "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White" have perhaps overshadowed his very fine work as seen in "Armadale." Lydia Gwilt (don't you love the last name?) is one of the great unsung characters in English (or any western) literature. Collins seems to delight in making her as full-bodied, as attractive to men, and as dangerous as he can without ever losing his grip and falling over the slippery precipice into satire. Given the tenor and social conventions of the time, her quest for revenge on the despicable Alan Armadale seems perfectly in keeping. Lydia Gwilt is like an early, English Scarlett O'Hara without the redeeming humor Scarlett was known to exhibit. All in all, an extraordinarily well-written and three-dimensional character study.

Wilkie Collins, in his serial novel style, writes of the murderous redheaded villianess, Lidia Gwilt, and her quest for vengeance and discovery of true love- with the man who bears the name of the object of her revenge. Wrapped up in this quest for revenge are disguises, fights, near drowning, and poisonings. Included are the plot twists and usual scores of characters common to this genre. I say that this is the perfect winter day's book, one of my favorite novels to read, over and over.

She's the red-haired, shapely and mercurial beauty who forms one of the best character studies ever done on the dynamics of evil in nineteenth century England. In Armadale, she is the tarnished but profound heroine who remains in memory long after you put the novel to rest. Early reviews of the book were savage, decrying the voyeuristic approach of Collins in laying bare the foibles of class as well as the seedy underside of British society. Arguably the most sensational of Collins' novels, it was backed by painstaking research into the scandals and murder trials splashed across the newspapers of the day. If you're looking for attempted murder, espionage, bigamy, double identity, drug addiction, and promiscuity, you've picked up the right book. Much more than pure sensationalism, however, it scrutinizes the role of fate in determining our future, and examines the sinister effects that early decisions can have on our lives. Although a contemporary and friend of Dickens, Collins adopted a daring and down-to-earth writing style that is much closer to the tastes of modern readers. Departing from straight narrative and dialog, he inserted letters and diary entires throughout the work, giving the reader tremendous personal insights into the leading characters. Considered by T.S. Eliot as one of the top three romances of Wilkie Collins, Armadale is one of those stories that keeps you guessing to the very end.