'A masterpiece' The Times After the tragic deaths of their parents, Magdalen and Norah discover the devastating news that they are both illegitimate and not entitled to any inheritance. Norah is forced to become a governess to earn her keep but Magdalen has grander plans and embarks on an elaborate scheme of revenge against her cold-hearted relatives.

A witty, intricately-plotted exploration of a sudden fall from grace, the Penguin Classics edition of Wilkie Collins's No Name is edited with an introduction and notes by Mark Ford. Magdalen and her sister Norah, beloved daughters of Mr and Mrs Vanstone, find themselves the victims of a catastrophic oversight. Their father has neglected to change his will, and when the girls are suddenly orphaned, their inheritance goes to their uncle. Now penniless, the conventional Norah takes up a position as a governess, but the defiant and tempestuous Magdalen cannot accept the loss of what is rightfully hers and decides to do whatever she can to win it back. With the help of cunning Captain Wragge, she concocts a scheme that involves disguise, deceit and astonishing self-transformation. In this compelling, labyrinthine story Wilkie Collins brilliantly demonstrates the gap between justice and the law, and in the subversive Magdalen he portrays one of the most exhilarating heroines of Victorian fiction. In his introduction Mark Ford examines themes of identity and illegitimacy within Victorian society and compares No Name to Collins's more 'sensational' fiction. This edition also includes notes and a bibliography. Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was born in London in 1824, the eldest son of the landscape painter William Collins. In 1846 he was entered to read for the bar at Lincoln's Inn, where he gained the knowledge that was to give him much of the material for his writing. From the early 1850s he was a friend of Charles Dickens, who produced and acted in two melodramas written by Collins, The Lighthouse and The Frozen Deep. Of his novels, Collins is best remembered for The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868).

Magdalen Vanstone and Norah - her sister learn the true meaning of social stigma in Victorian England only after the discovery that their parents, whose sudden deaths have left them orphans, were not married at the time of their birth. Disinherited by law and brutally ousted from home, the two young women are left to fend for themselves.

Magdalen Vanstone and Norah - her sister learn the true meaning of social stigma in Victorian England only after the discovery that their parents, whose sudden deaths have left them orphans, were not married at the time of their birth. Disinherited by law and brutally ousted from home, the two young women are left to fend for themselves.

Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Written in the early 1860s, No Name was rejected as immoral by critics of its time, but is today regarded as a novel of outstanding social insight, showing Collins at the height of his powers. Magdalen Vanstone and her sister Norah learn the true meaning of social stigma in Victorian England only after the traumatic discovery that their dearly loved parents, whose sudden deaths have left them orphans, were not married at the time of their birth. Disinherited by law and brutally ousted from Combe-Raven, the idyllic country estate which has been their peaceful home since childhood, the two young women are left to fend for themselves.

Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Written in the early 1860s, No Name was rejected as immoral by critics of its time, but is today regarded as a novel of outstanding social insight, showing Collins at the height of his powers. Magdalen Vanstone and her sister Norah learn the true meaning of social stigma in Victorian England only after the traumatic discovery that their dearly loved parents, whose sudden deaths have left them orphans, were not married at the time of their birth. Disinherited by law and brutally ousted from Combe-Raven, the idyllic country estate which has been their peaceful home since childhood, the two young women are left to fend for themselves.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. In 1867 Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated to produce a stage play titled No Thoroughfare. Two boys from the Foundling Hospital are given the same name, Walter Wilding. After the death of one - now a proprietor of a wine merchant's company - the executors are commissioned to find a missing heir. Their quest takes them from wine cellars in the City of London to the sunshine of the Mediterranean - across the Alps in winter.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. In 1867 Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated to produce a stage play titled No Thoroughfare. Two boys from the Foundling Hospital are given the same name, Walter Wilding. After the death of one - now a proprietor of a wine merchant's company - the executors are commissioned to find a missing heir. Their quest takes them from wine cellars in the City of London to the sunshine of the Mediterranean - across the Alps in winter.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. In 1867 Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated to produce a stage play titled No Thoroughfare. Two boys from the Foundling Hospital are given the same name, Walter Wilding. After the death of one — now a proprietor of a wine merchant's company — the executors are commissioned to find a missing heir. Their quest takes them from wine cellars in the City of London to the sunshine of the Mediterranean — across the Alps in winter.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. In 1867 Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins collaborated to produce a stage play titled No Thoroughfare. Two boys from the Foundling Hospital are given the same name, Walter Wilding. After the death of one — now a proprietor of a wine merchant's company — the executors are commissioned to find a missing heir. Their quest takes them from wine cellars in the City of London to the sunshine of the Mediterranean — across the Alps in winter.

Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Sister Rose is a part of After Dark.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Sister Rose is a part of After Dark.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Sister Rose is a part of After Dark.

Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Sister Rose is a part of After Dark.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Sister Rose is a part of After Dark.

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Sister Rose is a part of After Dark.