| The Law And The Lady |
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| 1875 novels | |
| law and the lady, the | |
| novels by wilkie collins | |
| mystery novels | |
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Plot summary Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville despite objections from Woodville's family leading to disquiet for Valeria's own family and friends. Just a few days after the wedding, various incidents lead Valeria to suspect her husband is hiding a dark secret in his past and she discovers that he has been using a false name. He refuses to discuss it leading them to curtail their honeymoon and return to London where Valeria learns that he was on trial for his first wife's murder by poison. He was tried in a Scottish court and the verdict was 'not proven' rather than 'not guilty' implying his guilt but without enough proof for a jury to convict him. Valeria sets out to save their happiness by proving her husband innocent of the crime. General Wilkie Collins not only invented the detective story but he almost certainly began the tradition of female sleuths continued by Agatha Christie with Miss Marple and, in more modern times, V.I. Warshawski , Sara Paretsky 's Chicago private detective. Perhaps it was Collins' unorthodox relationships that allowed him to see the strength and determination that a woman could bring to the role of detective and to reject the usual Victorian image of women being weak and in need of protection. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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