Wilkie Collins, even in his less accomplished works, never fails to entertain. Armadale is a case in point. It doesn't have all the endless plot-twists of The Woman in White, nor does it have the 'herione is also a demon" intrigue of No Name. But it still has all of Collins's rich writing, and it does contain one very curious and incredibly evil woman: Miss Gwilt. For those Wilkie Collins fans who enjoy really nasty, scheming people (ala Count Fosco of The Woman in White) will adore Miss Gwilt.

Like most of Wilkie Collins's larger novels, it is hard to summarize the story of Armadale. It is a complex tale of confused identities, folks wanting to inherit fortunes, and gentlemen falling in love with "Ms. Wrong"s. The complicated story does take a while to get rolling (..it takes some two hundred pages before we are introduced to the chief protaganist Miss Gwilt), but it does collect momentum quickly to a satisfying conclusion.

So Armadale is best read after first enjoying The Woman in White or No Name. It is a worthy member to everyone's Wilkie Collins collection.

This book by Collins was an unexpected masterpiece. It was better than The Moonstone. I recommend that everyone who is interested in Collins or Victorian sensational novels this is a good read.

Collins' efforts with his justly famed "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White" have perhaps overshadowed his very fine work as seen in "Armadale." Lydia Gwilt (don't you love the last name?) is one of the great unsung characters in English (or any western) literature. Collins seems to delight in making her as full-bodied, as attractive to men, and as dangerous as he can without ever losing his grip and falling over the slippery precipice into satire. Given the tenor and social conventions of the time, her quest for revenge on the despicable Alan Armadale seems perfectly in keeping. Lydia Gwilt is like an early, English Scarlett O'Hara without the redeeming humor Scarlett was known to exhibit. All in all, an extraordinarily well-written and three-dimensional character study.