The Evil Genius

The Evil Genius

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4.5
(2 Reviews)
The Evil Genius by Wilkie Collins

Published:

1886

Pages:

305

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4,305

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The Evil Genius

By

4.5
(2 Reviews)

Book Excerpt

the moment was: How will she bear the interval of delay which precedes the giving of the verdict?

In the popular phrase, Mrs. Westerfield was a showy woman. Her commanding figure was finely robed in dark colors; her profuse light hair hung over her forehead in little clusters of ringlets; her features, firmly but not delicately shaped, were on a large scale. No outward betrayal of the wife's emotion rewarded the public curiosity: her bold light-gray eyes sustained the general gaze without flinching. To the surprise of the women present, she had brought her two young children with her to the trial. The eldest was a pretty little girl of ten years old; the second child (a boy) sat on his mother's knee. It was generally observed that Mrs. Westerfield took no notice of her eldest child. When she whispered a word from time to time, it was always addressed to her son. She fondled him when he grew restless; but she never looked round to see if the girl at her side was as weary of the proceedings as the boy.

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An interesting insight into the time (1860s) that this was written. The story is about a husband and wife whose marriage is tested by the husband's love for their child's governess.
This is an excellent, very early (1886), vision of the issue of the failure of marriage coupled with the almost unheard word of "Divorce". Wonderful author's voice. What a great insight into an era 140 years ago when women's rights, just, began to change.