Armadale

By: Wilkie Collins

Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton, Rachel Atkins, David Rintoul, John Sackville, Lucy Scott

Two young men linked by a familial murder mystery, a beautiful yet wicked governess who spins a web of deceit, and five individuals named Allan Armadale

Wilkie Collins' follow-up to The Woman in White and No Name is an innovative take on mistaken identity, the nature of evil, and the dark underbelly of Victorian England. The story concerns two distant cousins, both named Allan Armadale, and the impact of a family tragedy, which makes one of them a target of the murderous Lydia Gwilt, a vicious and malevolent charmer determined to get her hands on the Armadale fortune. Will the real Allan Armadale be revealed, and will he survive the plot against his life?

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Wilkie Collins at his best

The story never gets boring and is fascinating until the end. No one is without flaws which is part of the charm

Classic Collins

This is the third of Wilkie Collins’s four great novels of the 1860s, the others being The Woman in White, No Name, and The Moonstone. The lives of two cousins, both named Allan Armadale, seem inextricably wound together. Is it fate or merely chance? One of the cousins is unaware of their kinship; the other goes by an assumed name and is haunted by a crime committed by his late father. The narrative is increasingly dominated by a third character, the beautiful but deceitful Lydia Gwilt, whose schemes threaten the life of one or both of the cousins. Armadale is a melodrama in the best sense of the word, and the Naxos cast is splendid!

Wilke Collins

This is by far my favorite of his books! Gripping! Even better than Woman in White

Twists and turns

Well written, and I am so glad I have discovered Wilkie Collins. I enjoy his work more than his contemporary Charles Dickens. This book has so many twists and turns, leaving the reader in suspense, making it difficult to put down. There is a small touch of the supernatural, like Collins' other books too. Highly recommended

Great narration

Narration was spot on. Story was fascinating, but most of the second half is told from the point of view of characters who are the antagonists, and the characters you grew to like in the beginning have less to do. My desire to see where it would all lead got me to the end, and it was an interesting ending, but it did leave me feeling less satisfied than Collins's other book with the same narrators, NO NAME. ARMADALE delves deep into the psychology of crime and criminals, and into most of the characters' heads. This was fine for me when the story was being told through the eyes of characters I liked, but when it veered into unlikable POV's for long stretches, it was decidedly more difficult. This is probably my own personal preference, however. If you're looking to commit to reading one of Collins's lesser known novels, I personally think NO NAME is more entertaining and satisfying, but this was also interesting in its own way.