Wilkie Collins’ First Novel | Classics Reading Vlog

Today's Victober vlog is all about reading Wilkie Collins' first published work, Antonina. It is historical fiction set during the fall of the Western Roman Empire. I'm excited to start my journey of reading through Wilkie's works chronologically.

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[frankmorlock]

Very nice video, Congratulations. When I was in my twenties I had taste for novels dealing with ancient Rome and also Greece. I read The Last Days of Pompeii, Ben Hur, Salambo, and more modern works. I somehow discovered that James Gibson Lockhart had written
a novel called Valerius, and Collins had written Antonina. Both books had been out of print for nearly a century and were hard to find even in libraries. So I never read either one. Eventually, I was able to obtain a complete set of the works of Wilkie Collins which contained Antonina. But I was in my forties and had moved on in my reading tastes. Since moving to Mexico, I gave up my library and with it my set of Collins. But now both Valerius and Antonina are available on the net. You definitely convinced me that, if I have the time, I would enjoy Antonina. Thanks, Jennifer.

[TooFondofBooksJH]

Wilkie Collins is my favourite Victorian author as well. This year I'm reading Poor Miss Finch. I have never heard of Antonina. I'll have to find a copy. I think historical romance (as in "a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, romantic exploits, etc., usually in a historical or imaginary setting") was a very popular style of writing at the time. If Collins was trying to get published, maybe he decided to go for something that would be a hit. William Harrison Ainsworth wrote historical romances as the same time and was very, very popular.

[lisacannon]

You can get all of his works, including out of print, on kindle under Delphi collections. They have complete author works of many authors for .99 cents to $2.99.

[elizabethbrink]

Fascinating! I've never heard of this Wilkie Collins book. I wonder what caused him to transition to more sensational fiction.

[meryleerobinson]

Dear Jennifer, thanks for reading this for me but not my jam. Love your work though x