Wilkie Collins: A Brief Life
by Peter Ackroyd
ISBN: 0385537395ISBN 13: 978-0385537391
publisher: Nan A. Talese
October 6, 2015
Much like a delicious hor d'oeuvre, A Brief Life is a tid bit that prepares the literary pallet and wets the appetite for more. Even those unfamiliar with this Victorian era author will find enough information in this little book to appreciate Collins' contribution to literature. It's a quick, easy read, filled with emotion, humor and strange facts.
Not to be unkind, but Collins is described as having a 'strange' physical appearance, plus having sworn off marriage, one would be surprised if a lady gave him the time of day...But not so, he was quite popular with the ladies and successfully maintained long term relations with not one, but two mistresses. He was the first author to pen an English mystery with a female detective in the lead role. Collins suffered from a variety of painful ailments, which lead to a serious addiction to opium. He had deep, heartfelt appreciation and respect for those serving in the military. With war raging, he became convinced that a local fortune teller could commune with the dead. While this brought him some degree of comfort, it also alienated him from a large section of the population. He tried his hand theater, without much fanfare. He is most famous for his novels, The Lady in White and Moonstone.
While he enjoyed the adulation of fans during his lifetime, it is because his works have stood the test of time he is considered a master storyteller today. Just as Chaucer, Twain, Poe and Dickens are held in the highest of literary esteem - Wilkie Collins may be lesser known, but his works are no less masterful.
Peter Ackroyd set out to deliver a brief overview of Wilkie Collins - I'm sure that's why he titled the book "A Brief Life." This wasn't meant to be a 1900 page, detailed history, and it isn't.
At under 300 pages, Ackroyd's book does an excellent job of introducing Wilkie Collins to strangers and reminding fans what they liked about his work. Peter Ackroyd talks about Wilkie Collins as though he were telling us about an old friend....sharing stories from his humble beginnings to his days of fame and of course his endearing friendship with Charles Dickens. Years ago when I read Ackroyd's, Charles Dickens biography, I felt the two shared so much it was like they had some kind of spiritual or cosmic kinship. Now after reading A Brief Life, the dialogue flows so naturally it's as if Ackroyd has a genuine understanding of his subject (Wilkie Collins) through Charles Dickens. (If that makes sense.) I enjoyed A Brief Life and would recommend it to anyone who loves literature, especially those who want to know more about the man behind the covers.
Happy Reading!
RJ :-)
**I received a courtesy copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.




Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd at his desk in Bloomsbury.*
- Book List:
2012 Wilkie Collins, Chatto & Windus - 2012 A History of England, v.II , Macmillan
- 2011 London Under, Chatto & Windus
- 2011 Foundation: The History of England Volume 1, Macmillan
- 2010 The English Ghost, Chatto & Windus
- 2010 The Death of King Arthur: The Immortal Legend, Penguin
- 2010 A Brief Guide to William Shakespeare: without the boring bits, Robinson Publishing
- 2009 Venice: Pure City, Chatto & Windus
- 2009 The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd, Penguin
- 2008 The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, Chatto & Windus
- 2008 Poe: A Life Cut Short, Chatto & Windus
- 2008 Newton, Chatto & Windus
- 2008 Coffee with Dickens, with Paul Schlicke, Duncan Baird
- 2007 Thames: Sacred River, Chatto & Windus
- 2006 The Fall of Troy, Chatto & Windus
- 2005 Voyages Through Time: Ancient Rome, Dorling Kindersley
- 2005 Voyages Through Time: Ancient Greece, Dorling Kindersley
- 2005 Turner, Chatto & Windus
- 2005 Shakespeare: The Biography, Chatto & Windus
- 2004 Voyages Through Time: Ancient Egypt, Dorling Kindersley
- 2004 The Lambs of London, Chatto & Windus
- 2004 Chaucer, Chatto & Windus
- 2003 Voyages through Time: The Beginning, Dorling Kindersley
- 2003 Voyages through Time: Escape from Earth, Dorling Kindersley
- 2003 The Haunted House, by Charles Dickens and Others, foreword, Hesperus
- 2003 The Clerkenwell Tales, Chatto & Windus
- 2003I llustrated London, Chatto & Windus
- 2002 Dickens: Public Life and Private Passion, BBC Books
- 2002 Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination, Chatto & Windus
- 2001 The Collection: Journalism, Reviews, Essays, Short Stories, Lectures, Chatto & Windus
- 2000 London: The Biography, Chatto & Windus
- 1999 The Plato Papers, Chatto & Windus
- 1998 The Life of Thomas More, Chatto & Windus
- 1996 Milton in America, Sinclair-Stevenson
- 1995 Blake, Sinclair-Stevenson
- 1994 Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, Sinclair-Stevenson
- 1993 The House of Doctor Dee, Hamish Hamilton
- 1992 English Music, Hamish Hamilton
- 1991 Introduction to Dickens, Sinclair-Stevenson
- 1990 Dickens, Sinclair-Stevenson
- 1989 First Light, Hamish Hamilton
- 1987 The Diversions of Purley and Other Poems, Hamish Hamilton
- 1987 Chatterton, Hamish Hamilton
- 1985 Hawksmoor, Hamish Hamilton
- 1984 T. S. Eliot, Hamish Hamilton
- 1983 The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde, Hamish Hamilton
- 1982 The Great Fire of London, Hamish Hamilton
- 1980 Ezra Pound and His World, Thames & Hudson
- 1979 Dressing Up: Transvestism and Drag, the History of an Obsession, Thames & Hudson
- 1978 Country Life, Ferry Press
- 1976 Notes for a New Culture: An Essay on Modernism, Vision Press
- 1973 London Lickpenny, Ferry Press
- 1971 Ouch, The Curiously Strong: Volume 4, No. 2
Awards
- 2003 CBE
- 2003 British Book Awards Illustrated Book of the Year, Illustrated London, shortlist
- 2001 South Bank Show Annual Award for Literature, London: The Biography
- 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for biography), The Life of Thomas More
- 1988 Booker Prize for Fiction, Chatterton, shortlist
- 1985 Whitbread Novel Award, Hawksmoor
- 1985 Guardian Fiction Prize, Hawksmoor
- 1984 Whitbread Biography Award, T. S. Eliot
- 1984 Somerset Maugham Award, The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde
- 1984 Heinemann Award, T. S. Eliot, joint winner
*photo courtesy of NYT
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