Man and Wife

by Wilkie Collins

Book Overview

Man and Wife (1870) combines the fast pace and sensational plot structure of Collins's most famous novels with a biting attack on the inequitable marriage laws in Victorian Britain. At its centre is the plight of a woman who fears that the archaic marriage laws of Scotland and Ireland may have forced her into committing unintentional bigamy. As the novel progresses, the atmosphere grows increasingly sinister when the setting moves from a country house...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192831461
• ISBN13: 9780192831460
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 682 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.5" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

A harsh view of Victorian marriages

Man and Wife is a novel of two generations of marriages that end in disaster. However, the novel is much more than the story of a helpless Victorian bride at the mercy of her despotic husband. Instead, Man and Wife explores the complex laws surrounding Irish and Scottish marriages in the nineteenth century. Wilkie Collins's interest in the law, especially marriage and divorce, lead to a novel with endless legal loopholes concerning what constitututes a marriage and what doesn't. The lives of two generation of friends named Anne and Blanche are forever changed by the laws concerning man and wife. The first generation Anne and Blanche are childhood friends. Anne Vanborough's Irish marriage is declared null and void by English law. She dies broken hearted and entreats her dearest friend, Anne, to look after he daughter also named Anne. As Anne lay dying she thinks of her daughter and wonders "will she end like me?". After Anne's death, Blanche raises little Anne as her own. Little Anne and Blanche's daughter also named Blanche become best friends. However, history is determined to repeat itself in a much more tragic manner. Another marriage comes under scrutiny. Another woman is forced to become an outcast by the legal system. Anne and Blanche are destined to relive the events that cursed their mothers. I absolutely recommend this novel to all WC fans. Many parts of the novel will move you to tears, others will leave you livid. In my opinion, Man and Wife features the most despicable character I've ever encountered in a Collins novel. An excellent read!

Great book!

This is a great book about the powerlessness of women in Great Britain, circa 1850, and how young Anne Silvester was finally able to overcome a looming hideous fate and triumph in the end. Equally as thrilling as "The Woman in White."

One of Collins' Best

*Man & Wife* is a wonderful mystery novel, except that instead of the whodunit format, the time frame is reversed and the crime is unfolding as we read. With exciting prose and plotting, Collins produces in the second quarter of the book a pursuit sequence almost as riveting as *Dracula's* 1897 mountain chase. The misdeed is largely psychological and societal: a woman promised but not given marriage becomes pregnant, and she has to be very resourceful in identifying a way to keep her baby legitimate as she hides her condition under the bustles of Victorian dress codes. So far, shades of Hardy's *Two On A Tower,* except this is not a romance. Rather, it is an excoriation of Victorian male-female privilege disparities using bizarre, and actual, Scottish marriage laws of the time. It was written after Collins' blockbuster 1860s novels. As a result, it has the more finely nuanced understanding of human nature that he honed until his very finest novel (*The Evil Genius* comedy). However, it was composed in 1870, and the proximity to his very purple sensation novels like *Armadale* and *Woman In White* leave *Man & Wife* turning in the last quarter to a jep novel that is a sensation style but not as campily over-the-top as the 60s volumes. Fortunately, there is finely-observed satire and comedy to lighten the mood most of the way. It is stronger than that other hidden gem of Collins, *Hide & Seek* and more believable than *The Moonstone.* So cinematic, I'm surprised it hasn't been made into a Gosford Park-style treat.

Wilkie Collins in good form..

In general, I have not been impressed with the works of Wilkie Collins outside his "big 4" novels ('The Woman in White', 'No Name', 'Armadale', and 'The Moonstone'). 'Man and Wife' was written right after 'The Moonstone', the last of his really successful novels. Sadly, this novel is unjustly overlooked by Wilkie Collins fans. It's actually a fun read.'Man and Wife' is a complicated story about a young couple, and their friends/family, caught up in the consequences of lax marriage laws during the Victorian era. At that time folks in Scotland were considered married if they simply announced it. No need for marriage licenses, blood tests, etc. Wilkie Collins's gift of building the suspense works well, and the book's ending is unexpected (and terrific).'Man and Wife' is every bit as good as, say, 'The Moonstone'. However for Wilkie Collins neophytes I suggest first trying 'The Woman in White' or 'No Name' (..both are my favorites).PS - I think the previous reviewer is mistaken. This book has nothing to do with intrusive mother-in-laws.

The Agony of Divorce

This was actually a fun read. It's an anti-mother-in-law book. It's also about divorce. Despite the Victorian horror of the subject, I can't help thinking that we modern folk could learn something from this book. Little things mostly, like avoiding temptation and not placing your spouse in temptation. Probably the biggest thing I learned was not to have your mother-in-law live with you. Good advice in any age.