The Dead Secret

A page turner from page one I enjoy the way Wilkie Collins brings characters to life About love, hardships and more

When Rosamond Treverton dies she urges her maid, Sarah Leeson, to deliver a letter containing a terrible secret to her husband. The secret is so horrible that the dying Rosamond threatens Sarah with coming back from the grave if the letter is destroyed or removed from the home. Sarah does neither of these things, but the secret remains hidden and is never delivered to Rosamond's husband after her death. When Rosamond's daughter, who bears her name, grows up she inherits the ancient home of Porthgenna Tower. Rosmand and her husband arrive at the Tower only to be haunted by the secrets hidden within its walls. The Dead Secret is one of Wilkie Collins's finest mystery novels. I was a little disappointed with the big revelation, but the mystery leading up to the big disclosure was Collins at his best. The novel is full of wonderfully vivid characters such as: Andrew Treverton, Mr Shrowl and Uncle Joseph. I found the character development in this book very impressive. They reminded me of characters from a Charles Dickens novel. The Dead Secret is an intriguing mystery novel that will keep you awake at night. If you loved The Moonstone, you must read this novel.

Wilkie Collins was in a class by himself. This lesser known tale was a favorite of mine and I gave it as a gift.

The more I read of Wilkie Collin's impressive body of work, I come to believe he is the greatest of the largely forgotten writers of the 19th century. While I certainly enjoy some of the Jane Austen novels being dramatized on PBS, I think this book and certainly the fantastic Woman in White would captivate modern viewers. Many of the scenes in this novel are very theatrical and I think would look translate great to television. Maybe his revival will come someday! Like his other books and stories, The Dead Secret tells the story of a "fallen woman", a favorite topic of many Victorian authors, but many of the themes here, such as the loss and transformation of identity, are strikingly modern. This is not Collin's best novel by far it is no less entertaining and a book that is very hard to put down. Plus Mozart's Don Giovanni (Collins' favorite composer) plays a small role in the novel, which is always a treat!

This is the last of what critics refer to as Collins's "apprentice novels", meaning that this is the last novel he wrote before he achieved fame with _The Woman in White_. Many of the themes Collins used in _The Woman in White_ seem to have been tested here, most notably the question of the identity of a mysterious woman, but the themes of legitimacy and secrecy play important parts as well. Collins also has a non-British character with a prominent part in this novel, but the German Uncle Joseph is as endearing as the Italian Count Fosco is sinister. Andrew Treverton and his servant, Shrowl, provide comic relief in a manner similar to Frederick Fairlie -- they exhibit the type of antisocial behavior that is irritating in real life, but is somehow rendered amusing in print.Unlike _The Woman in White_ or _The Moonstone_, there are no real villains in this novel. There are no intrigues to gain fortunes. There is, however, a ghost. Or is there? The mystery of this novel is of the commonplace variety; it is a question of a domestic secret rather than that of a stolen Indian diamond or a woman's sanity. Despite all of this, the novel is still a page turner. Even after the story became a bit predictable, I couldn't put the book down until I knew for sure what happened to Rosamond Frankland and Sarah Leeson. As usual, Collins has assembled an interesting bunch of characters: the sea captain, the actress, the misanthrope, the mysterious maid, and the young married couple. I found Sarah Leeson to be at once the most interesting and the most sympathetic character. This woman has obviously had a tragic past, a past which torments her, and it is only at the novel's close that Collins reveals what happened to destroy her happiness.All-in-all, this is a charming, fast-paced read that would be perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.