Basil

Basil was published in 1852 and dedicated to Charles Ward. It was Collins's second full-length work of fiction and first contemporary novel. In the introduction, he warns the reader that he has 'not hesitated to violate the conventionalities of sentimental fiction.' Basil is sometimes regarded as an early example of, if not the first, sensation novel. The author also declares his interest in drama, 'Believing that the Novel and the Play are twin-sisters in the family of Fiction.' Collins claimed that the main event of the story was founded on a fact within his own knowledge. This could be the secret marriage, based on that of Edward and Henrietta Ward. In Basil's secret and unconsummated marriage to the linen-draper's sexually precocious daughter, and the shocking betrayal, insanity, and death that follow, Wilkie Collins reveals the bustling, commercial London of the 19th century wreaking its vengeance on a still powerful aristocratic world.