The Evil Genius

Written by Wilkie Collins

Narrated by John Bolen

Kitty is the child of Herbert and Catherine Linley, a spoiled, coddled little girl who is at the same time-in the tradition of all Victorian children-adorable. The Evil Genius begins with the story of Kitty's ill-fated governess Sydney Westerfield, a girl thrown aside in the grand tradition of Jane Eyre and David Copperfield.

And now an "evil genius" is threatening to rip apart the fabric of the Linley home. Who is it, and why? Is it the orphaned young governess, Sydney, for whom the father lusts? The brother-in-law who appears to help everyone but often succeeds in making things worse? The meddling mother-in-law whose good-intentioned interferences lead to greater heartache? The disloyal father? Or perhaps it is the unassuming daughter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400180851

Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins, hijo del paisajista William Collins, nació en Londres en 1824. Fue aprendiz en una compañía de comercio de té, estudió Derecho, hizo sus pinitos como pintor y actor, y antes de conocer a Charles Dickens en 1851, había publicado ya una biografía de su padre, Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, Esq., R. A. (1848), una novela histórica, Antonina (1850), y un libro de viajes, Rambles Beyond Railways (1851). Pero el encuentro con Dickens fue decisivo para la trayectoria literaria de ambos. Basil (ALBA CLÁSICA núm. VI; ALBA MÍNUS núm.) inició en 1852 una serie de novelas «sensacionales», llenas de misterio y violencia pero siempre dentro de un entorno de clase media, que, con su técnica brillante y su compleja estructura, sentaron las bases del moderno relato detectivesco y obtuvieron en seguida una gran repercusión: La dama de blanco (1860), Armadale (1862) o La Piedra Lunar (1868) fueron tan aplaudidas como imitadas. Sin nombre (1862; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XVII; ALBA CLÁSICA MAIOR núm. XI) y Marido y mujer (1870; ALBA CLÁSICA MAIOR núm. XVI; ALBA MÍNUS núm.), también de este período, están escritas sin embargo con otras pautas, y sus heroínas son mujeres dramáticamente condicionadas por una arbitraria, aunque real, situación legal. En la década de 1870, Collins ensayó temas y formas nuevos: La pobre señorita Finch (1871-1872; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XXVI; ALBA MÍNUS núm 5.) es un buen ejemplo de esta época. El novelista murió en Londres en 1889, después de una larga carrera de éxitos.

Reviews for The Evil Genius

[Lisa Ann Whistler Smith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story. I enjoyed the reader very much. He maintained the different voices all the way through.

[belana-990668 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a bit of a Wilkie Collins fan, and since there are a number of his novels that I don't know yet, I decided to revisit his works.

This work is one of his weaker novels, but not quite as weak as 'Poor Miss Finch', which is by far the weakest of his novels that I've read.

The characters are plastic, and they develop, but I think I prefer his mysteries to his romances.
I'm not quite sure what to make of the moral views, either. They're somehow twisted, but then I guess they're indeed mirroring the general sentiments of the time, and as such, you can understand why the characters act as they do. The oddest thing is, that in Catholic circles, nothing has changed until today. Fascinating.

Since I have to rate it, and semi stars aren't possible, let me just say that I'd award this novel 3.5 stars.

[susiesharp_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was so different than I expected from the title I expected a spooky gothic story like Woman in White but alas that is not what this book was it’s the story of a marriage breaking up, a meddling mother-in-law, a child who suffers through it all and a young girl who seems to be taken advantage of no matter where she goes. This was an interesting look at divorce in a by gone era if a bit outdated.The narrator of this one John Bolen isn’t a favorite, I don’t like his women’s voices at all and Mr. Linley (sp-audiobook) sounded like Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter. His regular reading voice is fine but it almost seemed like he was trying too hard at all the different voices.Like I said this book wasn’t at all what I expected it to be but it is written by Wilkie Collins so it is so well written that I kept listening. It wasn’t a bad story it was just not what I was hoping to read if you want to try Wilkie Collins don’t start with this one start with Woman in White or The Moonstone.3 stars