“The Moonstone,” by Wilkie Collins

FM's ratings:

          1. Premise 8
          2. Prose 10
          3. Plot 9
          4. Characters 10
          5. Overall 9

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Evaluating this classic based on the standards of the time (compare to Charles Dickens, for example, with whom he was a close friend) might well result in a rating of “10.”  There had been very few authors that could accomplish this masterpiece.  One source rates this novel as one of the greatest 100 novels.  Yeah, maybe so.  It is considered the “greatest English detective novel,” although not the first; that honor has been bestowed by some as going to “Bleak House” by Dickens, perhaps my favorite Dickens novel.  Collins and Dickens even collaborated on works (see “The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices and more at: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/collins/pva200.html). Like most Victorian Age books, the premise is more or less secondary to the Premise; the Love Interest, often between cousins, as in this novel.  Of course, we still see this today in modern novels and movies that still seem to require a love interest as part of the plot.  Is this just to attract and hold the attention of women?  As sexist as that sounds today, that would appear to be the case.  Go into any bookstore and locate the “Romance” section for ample evidence.  If I were a woman, would this bother me?  I like to think so, but perhaps not.  Anyway, the premise of this book, at the beginning, appears to be the theft and subsequent whereabouts of a sacred diamond, a religious relic from India, perhaps with a curse attached.  Kind of Indiana Jones meets Steampunk.  Nope.  It’s a Victorian Romance.  But as such, it’s an extremely well-written one.  I think Collins rivals Dickens, maybe even besting him, and that’s saying a LOT, coming from me.  Dickens had a strong interest in Stage Theater, and his novels reveal that on close examination.  They are written in “scenes,” more than the works of other authors of the time.  That’s part of their charm, to me, and a large part of why his works have remained so popular for so long.  Collins’ works don’t have this quality so much – and he’s not as well-known.  Dickens’ secondary characters – the supporting roles, if you will – were very stereotypical.  The secondary characters in this novel are even more interesting than the “leads,” beginning with the first narrator, Gabriel Betteredge, the House Steward (or butler with extended duties).  This novel uses a technique that I have always imagined myself using if I had been a novelist: namely progressing the story through a series of different characters speaking in first person.  The perspective shift is not as stunning here as it could be, but is nevertheless used cleverly.  The indirect commentary on religious extremism found in the narrative passage of Miss Clack – the extremist herself –  is a brilliant bit of writing, in itself making it worth the time to read the book!  “The Lady in White” is thought of by many to be this author’s best work.  It’s definitely on my radar now!