The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The Moonstone is a mystery story that revolves around a huge diamond, known as the Moonstone of course, with a long and somewhat cursed history. Shortly after the Moonstone is bequeathed on a young woman, it disappears and the detective work begins. The questioning and the clues aren’t enough to find out what happened to the diamond, however, at least not right away.

 

There are several high-quality levels of entertainment in this novel, but my favorite aspect is the narrative style itself. There are several different narrators, each of whom is best set up to describe the part of the story with which he or she has been entrusted. The story is begun by the faithful servant Gabriel Betteridge who is never without inspiration from his beloved Robinson Crusoe. He is followed by the annoyingly self-righteous Miss Clack, and a few other skilled storytellers who found themselves in the middle of this intriguing tale.

The Moonstone is in part about solving the mystery of a theft, but it’s also an intimate account of the lives and histories of the characters embroiled in that mystery. There are a lot of pages in this book, but they are filled with details and voices that kept pulling me along. I believe it was originally published in serial form, and I regret just a little that I wasn’t able to read it along with its contemporary audience. I could imagine bittersweet anticipation of having to wait for the next part of the story.

I hadn’t remembered much of this story (certainly not the solution to the mystery), so it was fun to re-read it this time. I enjoyed it at least as much, or probably more, than I did many years ago. This is a great story for folks who love mysteries as well as good literature, even if some of the details are a bit odd. I doubt I’ll forget much of this novel any time soon, but I’m looking forward to reading it again someday anyway, just to once again be in the midst of a well-told tale. Perhaps I’ll force myself to read it in serial form!

 

 

Coming soon: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

 

 

 

 

A Year of Books I've Read Before