William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. «No Name», one of Collins' best-known works, takes place at Combe-Raven in West Somersetshire in 1846. Sisters Norah and Magdalen Vanstone lose their father and mother abruptly, and it is quickly revealed that the two were born out of wedlock. This illegitimacy in the eyes of the English court deprives them of their inheritance, a turn of events which Norah resigns to gracefully, but headstrong Magdelen is unable to accept. The social commentary novel shifts dramatically to revenge thriller as Magdelen seeks retribution for the injustice she has suffered.
