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Audiobook edition · 5 h 25 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the name you build your life on belongs to someone else?
In No Thoroughfare, Walter Wilding runs a London wine firm, but his past rests on uncertain ground. Raised in the Foundling Hospital, he longs to know who he really is. When former nurse Mrs Goldstraw brings forward a long-held secret, his name and fortune come into question.
Wilding’s loyal partner, George Vendale, loves Marguerite, the brave young ward of Swiss wine agent Jules Obenreizer. Behind Obenreizer’s polished manners lie secrecy and a stubborn will. As rivalry deepens, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins carry the mystery from London’s wine trade to the snowbound Alps, where the Simplon Pass becomes a place of danger.
What you’ll discover
- A name in doubt Follow Wilding’s search for belonging as uncertainty threatens the foundations of his life.
- Courtesy with something hidden Meet Obenreizer, whose smooth manners make his secrecy all the more unsettling.
- Love caught in rivalry Discover Vendale and Marguerite’s bond as love becomes entangled with a widening quarrel.
- Warmth against the cold Move from comic London life to tense mountain scenes on the snowbound Simplon Pass.
- Two writers, one mystery Enjoy Dickens’s warmth and Collins’s suspense within a brisk story of identity and betrayal.
Who will love it
For readers who love Victorian mysteries, short reads with strong plots, and stories of hidden identity and betrayal. Enjoy Dickens's warmth and humor alongside Collins's suspense as two writers share one tale.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A foundling builds a wine house
- A confession shakes the foundation
- Vendale falls for a Swiss ward
- A rivalry spreads across Europe
- The mountain road brings danger
- Names, class and a shared pen
Who’s who
- Walter WildingA gentle foundling who runs a London wine firm and longs to know who he really is.
- George VendaleWilding's cheerful, capable partner, who loves Marguerite and stands by his friend.
- Jules ObenreizerA polished Swiss wine agent whose courtesy hides secrecy and a stubborn will.
- MargueriteObenreizer's young ward, sincere and brave, who loves Vendale and sees more than she says.
- Mr BintreyThe firm's careful lawyer, who tests every fact and quietly follows the trail of the mystery.
- Joey LadleThe old cellarman of the wine house, who loves to predict gloom.
- Mrs GoldstrawA former Foundling Hospital nurse who comes forward with a long-held secret.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Senza via d'uscita in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Senza via d'uscita
by Charles Dickens; Wilkie Collins · 1867
A foundling wine merchant's name and fortune fall into doubt as rivalry carries his partner from London to the Alps.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
No Thoroughfare is a short Victorian story by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. It first appeared in December 1867 as the Christmas number of the magazine All the Year Round, which Dickens edited.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A foundling builds a wine house
The story starts in London with Walter Wilding, a man raised in the Foundling Hospital, a charity home for abandoned children. He believes a woman reclaimed him from the Foundling Hospital and raised him as her own. He is gentle, anxious and kind, and he now runs a firm of wine merchants called Wilding and Company. The business has come to him along with a name he has always believed was his own.
His partner is George Vendale, a cheerful and capable young man who is good for Wilding's nerves. Vendale has the easy confidence that Wilding lacks. The two work well together, and Vendale plainly feels real affection for his friend. Dickens shows their bond with warmth and small comic touches.
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What is No Thoroughfare about?
It follows a foundling wine merchant, Walter Wilding, whose name and fortune are called into doubt. His partner George Vendale loves a Swiss ward, and a rivalry with her guardian leads from London to the Alps.
Who wrote No Thoroughfare, Dickens or Collins?
Both. They shared the writing between them, and each had a hand in the story. It appeared in 1867 as the Christmas number of All the Year Round, and they also made a stage play from it.
What does the title No Thoroughfare mean?
A thoroughfare is a road that leads through to another place, so no thoroughfare means a road that cannot be passed. In the story it points to blocked paths, both in life and on the mountain.
The author
Charles Dickens
1812–1870 · English novelist
Charles Dickens was an English novelist born in Portsmouth in 1812. He lived in London and later at Gad’s Hill Place in Kent, where he died in 1870. His books include The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849–1850), and Great Expectations (1860–1861).
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