Changes

|title=Wilkie Collins

|author=Peter Ackroyd

|reviewer=John Van der Kiste

|publisher=Vintage

|date=March 2013

|summary=A 'brief life' of the Victorian writer, author of 'The Moonstone', often called the first true detective novel

}}

While Peter Ackroyd has published some extremely long books over the last few years, he has also been responsible for some commendably concise volumes as well. This life of the Victorian novelist is one of the latter, the latest in his series of ‘Brief Lives’, which have also included Chaucer, the painter Turner and [[Poe by Peter Ackroyd|Edgar Allan Poe]].

Any reader wanting more detail on the life of Collins will find that amply catered for elsewhere. A longer narrative might have enabled Ackroyd to breathe a little more personality into this portrait in words, but that is often easier said than done, especially in the case of many a Victorian writer. Nevertheless, like this author’s other ‘brief lives’, this proves a perfectly adequate introduction for the general reader.

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