Hide and Seek

by Wilkie Collins, Mint Editions (Contribution by)

Overview

Hide and Seek (1854) is a novel by Wilkie Collins. Written in the aftermath of Antonina (1850), his successful debut, Hide and Seek finds the author honing the trademark sense of mystery and psychological unease that would make him a household name around the world. Recognized as an important Victorian novelist and pioneer of detective fiction, Wilkie Collins was a writer with a gift for thoughtful entertainment, stories written for a popular audience that continue to resonate with scholars and readers today. Mary Grice, a young woman of wealth and social standing, becomes pregnant after a brief affair with a man calling himself Arthur Carr. Banished from her home, she dies during childbirth in the care of a group of circus performers, who adopt the baby as their own. Raised by Martha Peckover, the wife of a clown, young Mary is exploited by the circus owner following an accident with a horse, which leaves her deaf and mute. In order to save her, Martha brings Mary to a minister, who ensures she is adopted into a good home. Taken in by the Blyth family, Mary becomes known as Madonna for her beauty and grace, and soon catches the eye of Zack Thorpe. As the story unfolds, a mystery involving Mary’s father begins to take shape, with implications for her blossoming romance with Zack. Beyond its sensational plot, Hide and Seek is a masterpiece of Gothic suspense and mystery for seasoned readers of Victorian fiction and newcomers alike. This edition of Wilkie Collins’ Hide and Seek is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513135847
Publisher:	Mint Editions
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Series:	Mint Editions (Crime, Thrillers and Detective Work)
Pages:	380
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist and playwright. Born in London, Collins was raised in England, Italy, and France by William Collins, a renowned landscape painter, and his wife Harriet Geddes. After working for a short time as a tea merchant, he published Antonina (1850), his literary debut. He quickly became known as a leading author of sensation novels, a popular genre now recognized as a forerunner to detective fiction. Encouraged on by the success of his early work, Collins made a name for himself on the London literary scene. He soon befriended Charles Dickens, forming a strong bond grounded in friendship and mentorship that would last several decades. His novels The Woman in White (1859) and The Moonstone (1868) are considered pioneering examples of mystery and detective fiction, and enabled Collins to become financially secure. Toward the end of the 1860s, at the height of his career, Collins began to suffer from numerous illnesses, including gout and opium addiction, which contributed to his decline as a writer. Beyond his literary work, Collins is seen as an early advocate for marriage reform, criticizing the institution and living a radically open romantic lifestyle.

Date of Birth:

December 8, 1824

Date of Death:

September 23, 1889

Place of Birth:

London, England

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

Studied law at Lincoln¿s Inn, London

Table of Contents

OPENING CHAPTER.
A CHILD'S SUNDAY
BOOK 1. THE HIDING.
I. A NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD, AND A STRANGE CHA­RACTER
II. MR. BLYTH IN HIS STUDIO
III. MADONNA'S CHILDHOOD
IV. MADONNA'S MOTHER
V. MADONNA'S MISFORTUNE
VI. MADONNA GOES TO LONDON
VII. MADONNA IN HER NEW HOME
VIII. MENTOR AND TELEMACHUS
IX. THE TRIBULATIONS OF ZACR
X. :MR. BLYTH'S DRAWING ACADEMY
XI. THE BREWING OF THE STORM:
BOOK II. THE SEEKING.
I. THE MAN WITH THE BLACK SKULL-CAP
II. THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN
III. THE SEARCH BEGUN
IV. FATE WORKS, WITH ZAeK FOR AN INSTRUMENT.
V. FATE WORKS, WITH MR. BLYTH FOR AN INSTRU­MENT
VI. THE FINDING OF THE CLUE
VII. THE BOX OF LETTERS
VIII. JOANNA GRICE'S NARRATIVE
IX. MORE DISCOVERIES
X. THE SQUAW'S MIXTURE
XI. THE GARDEN DOOR
XII. THE HAIR BRACELET
XIII. THE SEARCH FOR ARTHUR CARR
XIV. MARY'S GRAVE
XV. THE DISCOVERY OF ARTHUR CARR
XIV. THE DAY OF RECKONING
XVII. MATTHEW GRICE'S REVENGE
CLOSING CHAPTER. A YEAR AND A HALF AFTERWARDS

Editorial Reviews

As Wilkie Collins weaves a mystery centered on an orphaned child’s parentage, narrator Nicholas Boulton captures the sundry characters one by one. Young Mary is adopted by a kindhearted artist and his wife after her mother dies unnamed. No one imagines that the key to her past is a hair bracelet that has been locked away. Boulton’s cadence suits Collins’s prose. He is both versatile and precise in his characterizations. He captures the eccentric and mysterious American visitor, Grice, as convincingly as the likable and lackadaisical Englishman, Zack Thorpe. With natural ease in his narrating style, Boulton delivers a charming performance of Collins’s entertaining mystery. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

As Wilkie Collins weaves a mystery centered on an orphaned child’s parentage, narrator Nicholas Boulton captures the sundry characters one by one. Young Mary is adopted by a kindhearted artist and his wife after her mother dies unnamed. No one imagines that the key to her past is a hair bracelet that has been locked away. Boulton’s cadence suits Collins’s prose. He is both versatile and precise in his characterizations. He captures the eccentric and mysterious American visitor, Grice, as convincingly as the likable and lackadaisical Englishman, Zack Thorpe. With natural ease in his narrating style, Boulton delivers a charming performance of Collins’s entertaining mystery. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2022 - AudioFile