The Dead Hand

By Wilkie Collins

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Wilkie Collins – An Introduction

Wilkie Collins was born on 8th January 1824 at 11 New Cavendish Street in Marylebone, London. A novelist, playwright and author of short stories, William Wilkie Collins was a popular figure in Victorian literature and this was further enhanced by his charm and flamboyant lifestyle.

He was a friend of Charles Dickens and eventually they collaborated on several projects and magazines. His own vast talents outshone most other literary figures of the day and he is credited with the introduction of the modern detective story namely ‘The Woman In White’.

Other notable achievements were ‘The Moonstone’, ‘All Year Round’ and ‘Amadale’. In all Wilkie Collins wrote some 30 novels, 14 plays, over 60 short stories and at least 100 non-fiction essays.

He died from a paralytic stroke on 23rd September 1889, at 82 Wimpole Street, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in West London.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Miniature Masterpieces
• Release date: Mar 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781787379428

Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist and playwright. Born in London, Collins was raised in England, Italy, and France by William Collins, a renowned landscape painter, and his wife Harriet Geddes. After working for a short time as a tea merchant, he published Antonina (1850), his literary debut. He quickly became known as a leading author of sensation novels, a popular genre now recognized as a forerunner to detective fiction. Encouraged on by the success of his early work, Collins made a name for himself on the London literary scene. He soon befriended Charles Dickens, forming a strong bond grounded in friendship and mentorship that would last several decades. His novels The Woman in White (1859) and The Moonstone (1868) are considered pioneering examples of mystery and detective fiction, and enabled Collins to become financially secure. Toward the end of the 1860s, at the height of his career, Collins began to suffer from numerous illnesses, including gout and opium addiction, which contributed to his decline as a writer. Beyond his literary work, Collins is seen as an early advocate for marriage reform, criticizing the institution and living a radically open romantic lifestyle.

Book preview

This comes to you courtesy of Miniature Masterpieces who have an excellent range of quality short stories from the masters of the craft.  Do search for Miniature Masterpieces at any digital store for further information. 

This audiobook is also duplicated in print as an ebook. Same title, same words. Perhaps a different experience but with Amazon’s whispersync you can pick up and put down on any device. Start on audio, continue in print and any which way after that.  This, and these are, Miniature Masterpieces.  Join us for the journey.

Wilkie Collins – An Introduction

Wilkie Collins was born on 8th January 1824 at 11 New Cavendish Street in Marylebone, London.  A novelist, playwright and author of short stories, William Wilkie Collins was a popular figure in Victorian literature and this was further enhanced by his charm and flamboyant lifestyle. 

He was a friend of Charles Dickens and eventually they collaborated on several projects and magazines. His own vast talents outshone most other literary figures of the day and he is credited with the introduction of the modern detective story namely ‘The Woman In White’. 

Other notable achievements were ‘The Moonstone’, ‘All Year Round’ and ‘Amadale’. In all Wilkie Collins wrote some 30 novels, 14 plays, over 60 short stories and at least 100 non-fiction essays. 

He died from a paralytic stroke on 23rd September 1889, at 82 Wimpole Street, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in West London.

The Dead Hand

When this present nineteenth century was younger by a good many years than it is now, a certain friend of mine, named Arthur Holliday, happened to arrive in the town of Doncaster exactly in the middle of the race-week, or, in other words, in the middle of the month of September.

He was one of those reckless, rattle-pated, open-hearted, and open-mouthed young gentlemen who possess the gift of familiarity in its highest perfection, and who scramble carelessly along the journey of life, making friends, as the phrase is, wherever they go. His father was a rich manufacturer, and had bought landed, property enough in one of the midland counties to make all the born squires in his neighbourhood thoroughly envious of him. Arthur was his only son, possessor in prospect of the great estate and the great business after his father's death; well supplied with money, and not too rigidly looked after, during his father's lifetime. Report, or scandal, whichever you please, said that the old gentleman had been rather wild in his youthful days, and that, unlike most parents, he was not disposed to be violently indignant when