Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo. Y el dicho popular no puede se más acertado si reparamos en la señora Presty: astuta, maquiavélica, sabia, conoce la forma de mover los hilos para que las cosas sucedan según sus deseos. Su afán de proteger a sus seres queridos, y su corazón en cierto modo generoso la conducen, sin embargo, a convertirse en la reina del mal: a causa de sus manejos, el engaño sustituye a la verdad y la virtud queda sometida a la mentira.

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.
( )

I really liked this story. It takes such an honest look at human nature (the mix of good and bad in people). No one is truly vilified, and no one is completely innocent. I love how he builds this story and how he resolves everything (even if it feels a bit like a soap opera and a rushed ending). ( )

man falls for governess, wife's mother urges separation, leads to divorce, child eventually brings them back together

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 This was an interesting look at divorce in a by gone era if a bit outdated.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 ( )