Synopsis"BASIL was the second work of fiction which I produced. On its appearance, it was condemned off-hand by a certain class of readers, as an outrage on their sense of propriety. . . ." -- Wilkie Collins, In Basil's secret and unconsummated marriage to Margaret Sherwin, and the consequent horrors of betrayal, insanity, and death, Collins reveals the bustling, commercial London of the first half of the nineteenth century. Collins' treatment of adultery shocked contemporary reviewers, and even today the passionate and lurid atmosphere he created has the power to disturb the modern reader.
LC Classification NumberPR4494.B3 1990