Blind Love

Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 719K words
Chapters: 72

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Blind Love by Wilkie CollinsAuthor: Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 1, 2005

Editor's review

Blind Love is a late novel by Wilkie Collins and belongs, like The Woman in White and The Moonstone, to the narrative tradition he excelled in, intertwining emotion and suspense. The "blind love" of the title is both a driving force of the plot and the author's continuing inquiry into trust, delusion and moral judgment. Collins is skilled at using multiple perspectives and characters' own accounts to advance the gradual exposure of truth, and this book likewise weaves marriage, money and a hidden past into a slowly tightening net. Its reading pleasure lies not in a single striking shock but in the wavering credibility of narrators and the gradual emergence of characters' motives. For readers familiar with Victorian fiction, it is a suitable text for understanding Collins's later style and his blend of sentiment and suspense; for newcomers, patience is needed to enter its unhurried rhythm. The Gutenberg edition is a public-domain electronic text without modern scholarly annotation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read The Woman in White and want to continue with Collins
Lovers of Victorian long-form fiction and multiple-perspective narration
Literature students studying how sentimental fiction and suspense elements combine
Readers with patience for long English novels who prefer psychological portrayal

Not a good fit for

Suspense readers who want high energy and tight pacing from the opening
Learners with little experience of long English sentences who give up easily
Readers who need modern annotations explaining period background and allusions

Reading tips

First clarify the main characters' relationships and each narrator's standpoint before entering the plot; this noticeably reduces early confusion.
Note the differences in tone among narrators, recording "who is speaking" separately from "what is said."
Pause at key turning points and look back at earlier foreshadowing to appreciate how Collins lays clues.
If the length feels long, read in narrative sections and write two or three summary sentences at the end of each before continuing.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Collins?

Yes. This is an independent story that does not depend on earlier plots. However, Collins habitually uses multiple perspectives and slow buildup; if you first read The Woman in White to become familiar with his technique, it will be easier to enter the rhythm of this book, while direct reading requires more patience with the early groundwork.

Is this a suspense novel?

It has clear elements of suspense and secrets, but it is closer to the emotional fiction and sentimental narrative of the Victorian period; suspense is a means of propulsion rather than the sole purpose. Readers expecting pure detection or strong twists may find the pace slow, while those who enjoy psychological and relational tension will be more readily absorbed.

How difficult is the English?

It is a nineteenth-century English novel with long sentences and much paragraph development; vocabulary is generally not obscure, but period expressions are frequent. Readers with college-level English reading ability who have read one or two Victorian novels will adapt more easily; beginners should use a dictionary and slow down, not aiming to understand everything at once.

What should I note when reading the Gutenberg edition?

This is a free public-domain electronic text, generally without a modern introduction, annotations or version notes, and the layout is plain. Before reading, browse the table of contents to confirm the chapters are complete; for period background or allusions, look them up separately rather than relying on the book for explanation.

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About the author

Collins, Wilkie, 1824-1889 Author

Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was a British novelist best known for his detective and suspense fiction. The library holds 44 of his works, including The Woman in White, The Moonstone, No Name, Armadale, The Law and the Lady and The Dead Secret. He was skilled at multiple-perspective narration and building suspense, and he addressed social issues such as identity, marriage and the law, with intricate plots and vivid characters. The Moonstone is often regarded as one of the pioneering works of modern detective fiction and has had a lasting influence on later mystery writing. It should be noted that the library's information on his nationality and life dates is limited, so this introduction relies mainly on his works and general public knowledge.