Product Description

Magdalen and her sister Norah, beloved daughters of Mr and Mrs Vanstone, find themselves the victims of a catastrophic oversight. Their father has neglected to change his will, and when the girls are suddenly orphaned, their inheritance goes to their uncle. Now penniless, the conventional Norah takes up a position as a governess, but the defiant and tempestuous Magdalen cannot accept the loss of what is rightfully hers and decides to do whatever she can to win it back. With the help of cunning Captain Wragge, she concocts a scheme that involves disguise, deceit and astonishing self-transformation. In this compelling, labyrinthine story Wilkie Collins brilliantly demonstrates the gap between justice and the law, and in the subversive Magdalen he portrays one of the most exhilarating heroines of Victorian fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100542 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

About the Author
Wilkie (William) Collins (1824-89) was a hugely successful and popular crime, mystery and suspense writer. He wrote the first full-length detective novels in English and set a mould for the genre as shown in The Moonstone and 'The Woman in White'. Mark Ford is a lecturer in English Literature at University College London. His publications include the poetry collections Landlocked and Soft Sift and he has also edited Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby for Penguin Classics.

Customer Reviews

His best no doubt
This is an amazing novel . Immensely modern in outlook for when it was written Magdalen Vanstone remorselessly pursues the return of the lost family fortune .

A pageturning thriller I have read it three times and it is always exciting . It would be brilliant if adapted for TV faithfully (unlike the shockingly bowdlerised Woman in White we had the other year)

Puts John Grisham to shame - buy it

Gripping - everytime I read it I can't put it down!
Everyone likes the Moonstone or the Woman in White, but 'No Name' is my favourite of Wilkie Collins' novels. I believe this is the very best revenge novel ever written! From the moment I open it, to the moment I finish it, I am totally gripped everytime. Even though now I know what is going to happen, I just can't put it down until the last page. The first time I read it, I stayed up all night to finish it.

If you only read one of his books - read this. You won't regret it.

An absolute stunner
I adore Wilkie Collins and this has to me my favourite. Couldn't put it down and has to rank as one of my all-time favourites. I didn't think Collins could do better than The Woman in White but to me No Name has to be his masterpiece.