A Rogue's Life (Barnes & Noble Digital Library): From His Birth to His Marriage

By Wilkie Collins

Frank Softly has tried his hand at just about everything—from medicine to painting—without any success. When he falls in love with a counterfeit coin maker’s daughter, Alicia, he decides he must have her, even if that means becoming a criminal. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Jul 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411458826

Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins (January 8, 1824-September 23, 1889) was the author of thirty novels, more than sixty short stories, fourteen plays (including an adaptation of The Moonstone), and more than one hundred nonfiction pieces. His best-known works are The Woman in White, The Moonstone, Armadale, and No Name.

Reviews for A Rogue's Life (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

[nosajeel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This early novella by Wilkie Collins is a picaresque story of a young many from a good family who goes through a series of professions, from publishing anonymous caricatures of his unwitting friends to forging old masters to counterfeiting. His family isn't exactly blameless either: in a typical Collins device, a will leaves money to the rogue's sister and brother-in-law only if he outlasts his grandmother -- which becomes their motivation for checking in on the rogue every now and then.

The picaresque meanderings are interrupted by the rogue falling in love, an exciting escape/pursuit, and his becoming an honest man by getting married and settling down in Australia (the later location, against his will).

This novella provides only a distant glimpse of the best of Collins, which was eventually to come. But it is enjoyable and worthwhile on its own terms.

[jasonlf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This early novella by Wilkie Collins is a picaresque story of a young many from a good family who goes through a series of professions, from publishing anonymous caricatures of his unwitting friends to forging old masters to counterfeiting. His family isn't exactly blameless either: in a typical Collins device, a will leaves money to the rogue's sister and brother-in-law only if he outlasts his grandmother -- which becomes their motivation for checking in on the rogue every now and then.The picaresque meanderings are interrupted by the rogue falling in love, an exciting escape/pursuit, and his becoming an honest man by getting married and settling down in Australia (the later location, against his will).This novella provides only a distant glimpse of the best of Collins, which was eventually to come. But it is enjoyable and worthwhile on its own terms.

[shereadsnovels · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Frank Softly is a Rogue. Refusing to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor, he has tried out a number of different careers since leaving school – and failed at them all. However, he remains optimistic and sees each failure as an opportunity to make a fresh start. Even when he is sent to a debtors’ prison he simply asks himself, "What of that? Who am I that I should object to being in prison, when so many of the royal personages and illustrious characters of history have been there before me?"While working as a forger of old paintings, Frank meets Alicia Dulcifer in an art gallery and immediately falls in love. Unfortunately even this relationship seems likely to fail, because Alicia is the daughter of the sinister Dr. Dulcifer – a man who lives in a house with bars on the windows, never receives visitors and conducts mysterious experiments in his laboratory. Frank becomes determined to discover Dr. Dulcifer’s secret, at all costs.As in many Victorian novels, there's also an inheritance involved: Frank's sister Annabella will only receive her three thousand pounds if Frank outlives their grandmother Lady Malkinshaw. This leads to some amusing situations as Annabella’s greedy husband desperately tries to prevent Frank from dying!This was one of Wilkie Collins' first books to be published (in 1856) and I could tell it was the work of a young, inexperienced writer – the plot was less developed than in his later books and the characters (apart from the Rogue himself) were less memorable. However, his enthusiasm shines through on every page, making this a fun, light-hearted read – but with plenty of suspense and excitement too. Although Frank Softly is dishonest, irresponsible, reckless – and definitely a rogue – he tells his story with so much humour and energy that you can’t help liking him.Rather changeable this life of mine, was it not? Before I was twenty-five years of age, I had tried doctoring, caricaturing, portrait-painting, old picture-making, and Institution-managing...Surely, Shakespeare must have had me prophetically in his eye, when he wrote about 'one man in his time playing many parts'. What a character I should have made for him, if he had only been alive now!While I don't think I would recommend this as a first introduction to his work, if you have enjoyed any of Collins' other books there's no reason why you shouldn't enjoy this one too. And the short length of this book – only 150 pages – makes it a quick, fast-paced read, so anyone who has had trouble getting into one of his longer novels may find this one easier to read.I'm going to leave you with Wilkie's own thoughts on this novel, taken from the author's preface:The Rogue may surely claim two merits, at least, in the eyes of the new generation – he is never serious for two moments together; and 'he doesn't take long to read'.