{"product_id":"the-evil-genius-9781551110172","title":"The Evil Genius","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWilkie Collins is best known for his great mystery \u003cem\u003eThe Moonstone\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Woman in White\u003c\/em\u003e—and for a life as sensational as are those novels. (The writer who famously advised other novelists to ‘make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em wait’ is now known to have kept entire households in different parts of England going simultaneously.) Yet Collins also wrote a succession of extraordinarily powerful novels of private life; of these \u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eThe Evil Genius is among the finest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story is motivated by the attraction between Herbert Linley and the woman he hires as governess for his child Kitty—the long suffering Sydney Westerfield. As one expects with Collins, the story is driven forward with deft assurance. Yet he also treats the theme of adultery and divorce in a manner quite unconventional for his time—and, remarkably, he manages to draw readers into a sympathetic understanding of both of the main female characters: the offending governess and the aggrieved wife.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Evil Genius\u003c\/em\u003e was a very considerable success when first published; indeed, it brought Collins more financially than any of his other works. Over a century later its sinews retain the strength to speak powerfully to the reader; lively and intelligent, it is perhaps the finest of Collins’ later novels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“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\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFootnotes\u003cbr\u003eA Note on the Text\u003cbr\u003eSelected Bibliography\u003cbr\u003eWilliam Wilkie Collins: A Brief Chronology\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Evil Genius\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendix: Contemporary Documents\u003cbr\u003eExplanatory Notes\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadview Press Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51041301528919,"sku":"9781551110172","price":26.06,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781551110172.jpg?v=1750949725","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-evil-genius-9781551110172","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}