Basil by Wilkie Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I do adore Wilkie Collins’ writing, but this sad Gothic tale was seriously depressing from start to finish. In this story, the main character Basil sees a young woman in the street, and instantly falls in love with her. He meets her briefly, and learns that her name is Margaret. Later he approaches her father, and the two are married within a couple of weeks with the proviso that Margaret remain living with her family until her 18th birthday. So Basil is married in name only and can only visit Margaret with her mother as a chaperone. During this time, Basil meets Mr. Mannion, a family friend of his in-laws, but the man is so strange and mysterious that Basil can’t decide if Mannion is friend or foe.

There’s horror and betrayal and violence, insanity and disease and death; Gothic literature at its finest! Continue reading →