Basil
An aristocratic young man falls in love at first sight with a lower-class girl on an omnibus, with disastrous consequences.
$2.99
- Instant download, no account needed
- DRM-free EPUB for Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and Android
- Secure checkout with card, Apple Pay or Google Pay
- Length
- 117,000 words
- Reading time
- About 7 hours
- Format
- EPUB, DRM-free
About the book
Basil, published in 1852, is Wilkie Collins’ second novel. In writing it, Collins took a very different approach from his first novel, a historical romance: Basil is his first venture into “sensation fiction.” It features themes of adultery, fraud, betrayal, and vengeance; themes certainly sensational by the standards of the early Victorian era in which it was written.
The novel begins with Basil, an aristocratic young man who sees a beautiful young woman on an omnibus, and instantly falls in love with her. Unfortunately for Basil, she’s the daughter of a mere linen-draper, and thus far beneath him in class. Nevertheless Basil pursues her and enters into an unwise arrangement with her father, ultimately leading to disastrous consequences.
This is the Standard Ebooks edition, carefully proofread and typeset, with a table of contents and linked footnotes.
