The church has lost out on a valuable piece of land through wars and transfers. Father Benwell is determined to reclaim that property by the conversion of the owner, Lewis Romayne. Enter beautiful Stella, who captures the heart of Romayne. Should Stella capture the love and devotion of Romayne, Father Benwell's scheme would fail, and that is something that he cannot allow. Complicating things is the fact that both Romayne and Stella are hiding their own terrible secrets. The book centers around the misadventures of Lewis Romayne, and is also noted for a perceived anti-Catholic bias.
Wilkie Collins is a superb storyteller. This is a little too wordy for me in places but easy to skip and not lose the story. The twists and characters kept me reading long past my weekday bedtime, I am sorry I have finished it but the satisfying ending was worth it.
2013-08-19
So brilliant.
An absolute " must read" . Surprisingly , a real page turner. Exciting , moving and brilliantly written. The characters rise from the pages and all human nature is laid bare. Wonderful!
2012-08-31
The black robe
This was a well written book, but not always an enjoyable read! There were numerous times where I wanted to throttle one of the characters. As always, in W. Collins novels, the booked revealed that what comes around, goes around! Worth a read, but not as gripping and pleasurable as other W. C. Books.
