Wilkie Collins: The Complete Short Stories (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Victorian mysteries, English Gothic chills, and classic detective puzzles from 19th-century EnglandBy Wilkie Collins
Length124h 32m
About this audiobook
Wilkie Collins: The Complete Short Stories gathers the shorter fiction of a writer central to Victorian popular literature, revealing the range behind his reputation as master of sensation. These tales move between mystery, domestic melodrama, Gothic unease, social satire, and psychological suspense, often turning on secrets, mistaken identities, legal injustice, and the instability of respectable appearances. Written with Collins's characteristic clarity, dramatic pacing, and ingenious plotting, the stories illuminate the same literary world that produced The Woman in White and The Moonstone. Collins (1824–1889), friend and sometime collaborator of Charles Dickens, was shaped by the serial marketplace, the theatre, and a lifelong fascination with law, medicine, and social marginality. His unconventional private life, chronic illness, and skepticism toward Victorian moral certainties helped sharpen his sympathy for women, outsiders, and the wrongly accused. These concerns repeatedly surface in his short fiction, where entertainment and critique are rarely separate. This collection is warmly recommended to readers of Victorian fiction, detective literature, and finely constructed narrative suspense. It offers both an accessible introduction to Collins's art and a rich supplement for those who know his novels, displaying his brilliance in compact, versatile form.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics
Length124 hrs 32 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 21, 2015
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
42The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices (pt. 2)
2Introduction
43The Last Stage Coachman
3Author Biography
44The Fatal Cradle
4Historical Context
45The Frozen Deep
5Synopsis (Selection)
46The Captain's Last Love
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6After The Dark (pt. 1)
47The Dead Hand
7After The Dark (pt. 2)
48The Devil's Spectacles
8After The Dark (pt. 3)
49The First Officer's Confession
9After The Dark (pt. 4)
50Farmer Fairweather
10After The Dark (pt. 5)
51Fatal Fortune
11After The Dark (pt. 6)
52Fie! Fie! Or The Fair Physician
12After The Dark (pt. 7)
53Love's Random Shot
13The Ostler
54The Midnight Mass
14Mr. Wray's Cash Box (pt. 1)
55Nine O'Clock
15Mr. Wray's Cash Box (pt. 2)
56A Passage in the Life of Mr. Perugino Potts
16The Queen of Hearts (pt. 1)
57The Haunted Hotel (pt. 1)
17The Queen of Hearts (pt. 2)
58The Haunted Hotel (pt. 2)
18The Queen of Hearts (pt. 3)
59The Haunted Hotel (pt. 3)
19The Queen of Hearts (pt. 4)
60My Lady's Money (pt. 1)
20The Queen of Hearts (pt. 5)
61My Lady's Money (pt. 2)
21The Queen of Hearts (pt. 6)
62My Lady's Money (pt. 3)
22The Queen of Hearts (pt. 7)
63Who Killed Zebedee
23A House to Let (pt. 1)
64Little Novels (pt. 1)
24A House to Let (pt. 2)
65Little Novels (pt. 2)
25The Haunted House ("The Ghost in the Cupboard Room")
66Little Novels (pt. 3)
26My Miscellanies (pt. 1)
67Little Novels (pt. 4)
27My Miscellanies (pt. 2)
68Little Novels (pt. 5)
28My Miscellanies (pt. 3)
69Little Novels (pt. 6)
29My Miscellanies (pt. 4)
70Little Novels (pt. 7)
30My Miscellanies (pt. 5)
71The Poetry Did It
31My Miscellanies (pt. 6)
72A Sad Death and A Brave Life
32My Miscellanies (pt. 7)
73The Twin Sisters
33No Thoroughfare (pt. 1)
74Volpurno — Or The Student
34No Thoroughfare (pt. 2)
75John Steadiman's Account (The Wreck of The Golden Mary)
35No Thoroughfare (pt. 3)
76A Message from The Sea
36Miss or Mrs? (pt. 1)
77The Seafaring Man
37Miss or Mrs? (pt. 2)
78The Dead Alive
38"Blow up with the Brig!"
79Analysis
39The Hidden Cash
80Reflection
40The Perils of Certain English Prisoners
81Memorable Quotes
41The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices (pt. 1)
Fräulein Minna und der Reitknecht (Kommentiert)Wilkie Collins3h 13m$1 · $0.00
Die Kasse von Herr Wray (Kommentiert)Wilkie Collins5h 39m$1 · $0.00
Der Mondstein (Mystery-Krimi) (Kommentiert)Wilkie Collins26h 33m$1 · $0.00
Gesammelte Krimis (Kommentiert)Wilkie Collins70h 30m$1 · $0.00
Ein Tiefes Geheimnis (Mystery-Krimi) (Kommentiert)Wilkie Collins19h 52m$1 · $0.00
No Name (Mystery Classic) (Annotated)Wilkie Collins31h 42m$2 · $0.00
The Woman in White (illustrated) + The Moonstone + The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern Venice (Annotated)Wilkie Collins57h 35m$2 · $0.00
The Moonstone (Annotated)Wilkie Collins23h 22m$2 · $0.00
Basil: A Story of Modern Life (Annotated)Wilkie Collins14h 36m$2 · $0.00
La piedra lunar (texto completo, con índice activo)Wilkie Collins24h 25m$1 · $0.00
The Legacy of CainWilkie Collins13h 2m$2 · $0.00
The Law and The Lady (Mystery Thriller Classic)Wilkie Collins17h 1m$1 · $0.00
The Dead AliveWilkie Collins3h 38m$2 · $0.00
La piedra lunarWilkie Collins25h 42m$1 · $0.00
The New MagdalenWilkie Collins12h 36m$2 · $0.00
The Haunted Hotel: A Mystery of Modern VeniceWilkie Collins7h 56m$1 · $0.00
Heart and ScienceWilkie Collins15h 55m$1 · $0.00
A Rogue's LifeWilkie Collins5h 11m$2 · $0.00
Greatest Mystery Novels of Wilkie Collins (Illustrated)Wilkie Collins155h$1 · $0.00
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Annotated)Howard Irving Chapelle, Tappan Adney13h 10m$2 · $0.00
Charles Dickens: Complete Works (Annotated)Charles Dickens819h 4m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë Sisters (Annotated)Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë204h 15m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Annotated)Oscar Wilde126h 19m$2 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 1m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of the Brontë Family (Anne, Charlotte, Emily, Branwell and Patrick Brontë) (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë140h 39m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain415h 9m5 (2)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare89h 26m$3.50 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
All NovelsGeorge Orwell53h 48m$10 · $0.00
The Complete Works of TolstoyLeo Tolstoy412h 44m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Louisa May Alcott (Annotated)Louisa May Alcott226h 24m$2 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes series - completeArthur Conan54h 8m$3.50 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h$1 · $0.00
H. P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft50h 45m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Books of F. Scott Fitzgerald (all his 5 novels + all 4 short story collections published during his lifetime)F. Scott Fitzgerald87h 43m$1 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m$29 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Charlotte Brontë (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë80h 42m$2 · $0.00
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