The Evil Genius: The Novel and the Play

by Wilkie Collins Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle de Cuir, Kathe Mazur, Nan McNamara, John Rubinstein

Overview

“In one respect, men are all alike; they hate to see a woman in tears.”

Paired with Blackstone's and Skyboat Media's production of Wilkie Collins's The Evil Genius, Skyboat Media presents the dramatic adaptation of the novel, also by Wilkie Collins. Although both versions of the story were written at the same time, the play has never before been published and was only ever performed once on the stage. In fact, it is almost entirely unknown and is otherwise unavailable.

Miss Sydney Westerfield has been saved from a lonely life of teaching at her aunt's school and taken into service as a governess for Kitty, daughter of Herbert and Catherine Linley. Kitty simply adores Sydney, and Catherine does as well for the governess's warmth and kindness as a caretaker and a member of their household. But when Herbert and Sydney fall in love, it is only a matter of time before the truth must come out-helped along, of course, by Catherine's mother, the fierce gossip and foremost meddler Mrs. Presty.

Infidelity, divorce, and child custody are at the forefront of this tale of domestic drama, but Wilkie Collins takes a most modern approach to the view of women in such situations. Not only does Collins offer sympathy-empathy even-for these women that was not at all common at the time, he also remembers to keep a spotlight on young Kitty, whose life will be forever shaped by the affairs of the adults around her.

This full-cast recording of both the novel and the play will fully immerse you in a truly forward-thinking portrait of love and betrayal.

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

The husband-and-wife narrating team of Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir are perfect at navigating Wilkie Collins’s elaborate nineteenth-century prose. They also illuminate the work’s very contemporary empathy for its female characters. It all begins when an English noble returns home with a young governess for his daughter in tow. The husband falls in love. His wife is devastated. And his mother-in-law plots revenge. The staged reading of the play, performed only once before in 1885 to secure copyright, is a revelation showing how Collins emphasized voice and character to retell the novel. It features an energetic de Cuir in multiple roles. Of course, it’s left to the listener to decide who the “evil genius” truly was. B.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Library Journal

Released in 1886, Collins's Victorian soap opera focuses on Kitty Linley, a child whose father dies in disgrace and whose mother abandons her for another marriage. Kitty is tossed into a school where she, of course, is treated brutally. A governess is hired to raise her, but her stepfather falls for the woman, bringing yet more misery into the girl's life. Collins is always popular. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile

Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir are perfect at navigating Wilkie Collins’s elaborate nineteenth-century prose. They also illuminate the work’s very contemporary empathy for its female characters…The staged reading of the play, performed only once before in 1885 to secure copyright, is a revelation, showing how Collins emphasized voice and character to retell the novel. It features an energetic de Cuir in multiple roles. Of course, it’s left to the listener to decide who the ‘evil genius’ truly was.”

Oxford University Catherine Peters

Collins’s boldness in drawing sympathetic portraits of both the wife and ‘the other woman’ is astonishingly modern. The novel well deserves to be brought back into print.”

From the Publisher

Collins’ boldness in drawing sympathetic portraits of both the wife and ‘the other woman’ is astonishingly modern. The novel well deserves to be brought back into print.” — Catherine Peters, Oxford University

SEPTEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

The husband-and-wife narrating team of Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir are perfect at navigating Wilkie Collins’s elaborate nineteenth-century prose. They also illuminate the work’s very contemporary empathy for its female characters. It all begins when an English noble returns home with a young governess for his daughter in tow. The husband falls in love. His wife is devastated. And his mother-in-law plots revenge. The staged reading of the play, performed only once before in 1885 to secure copyright, is a revelation showing how Collins emphasized voice and character to retell the novel. It features an energetic de Cuir in multiple roles. Of course, it’s left to the listener to decide who the “evil genius” truly was. B.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175678698
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/26/2022
Edition description:	Adapted

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