13 h 10 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 10 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
One glance on a London omnibus draws a young man toward a love his proud family would never accept.
Basil, the impulsive younger son of a wealthy English family, cannot forget Margaret Sherwin’s face. She is a tradesman’s daughter; his father lives by rank and family honour. Knowing the match must remain secret, Basil approaches her ambitious father, Mr Sherwin, who sets strict terms for their marriage.
In Wilkie Collins’s novel, danger takes root among shops, omnibuses and respectable houses. Mr Mannion, a quiet clerk in Sherwin’s business, watches closely and reveals little. Basil tells his own story as both confession and warning, drawing you into desire, secrecy and revenge through the eyes of a man whose passion clouds his judgment.
What you’ll discover
- A glance that consumes Follow an attraction that takes hold before Basil knows anything about the woman he wants.
- The weight of rank See how family pride and social ambition shape a marriage that must remain hidden.
- A patient, watchful presence Meet Mr Mannion, whose polite manner conceals desires he is careful not to reveal.
- A confession worth questioning Draw close to Basil’s account while noticing how little his own heart lets him see.
- Danger behind respectable doors Enter an ordinary world where secrecy, crime and passion disturb the surface of daily life.
Who will love it
This is for readers who enjoy Victorian sensation stories, family secrets, uneasy love and a mystery that tightens page by page. If you like a narrator who confesses everything, Basil will suit you well.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Basil writes under a hidden name
- Family pride sets the terms
- A glance becomes an attachment
- Marriage comes with a year's separation
- Mannion offers help without a price
- Warnings lead to a closed door
- Love becomes entangled with social ambition
- Confession makes the reader a judge
- Small deceptions gather their own force
Who’s who
- BasilThe second son of a proud family, a would-be author who writes this confession and wants to marry the girl he loves.
- Margaret SherwinA beautiful, vain draper's daughter who longs for fine clothes, a carriage and a high place in society.
- Mr. MannionMr. Sherwin's confidential clerk, forty or so, with a still face, a hidden past and great influence over the household.
- ClaraBasil's gentle younger sister, loved by everyone, who wants to keep her brother close and her family whole.
- Basil's fatherA pale, courteous gentleman of ancient family whose pride in his name rules his house and his heart.
- RalphBasil's elder brother and heir, a reckless, charming man who ignores duty yet shows loyalty when it counts.
- Mr. SherwinA nervous, scheming linen draper who wants his daughter to marry above her station and keeps a tight hold on his money.
- Mrs. SherwinMargaret's frail, frightened mother, who sits silent in the room and fears Mannion more than anyone.
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Basil
by Wilkie Collins · 1852
A younger son follows a veiled girl from an omnibus and stakes his family name on a secret marriage.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What would you risk for a face glimpsed for a few minutes on a London omnibus? In Basil, a young man of good family follows a stranger to her door, and within weeks he is ready to give up his father's trust and his place in society for her.
Basil at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 30 min6 h fast, 8 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 107,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1852by Wilkie Collins
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A young man writes his story as a warning
Basil opens his account on his twenty-fourth birthday, in a stone cottage by a fishing village in Cornwall. He says it is the story of one year, an error innocent at its start, guilty as it went on, and fatal in its results. He hopes the pages will be read calmly and judged with mercy.
He gives no family name. He lives in hiding, for an enemy, deadly and patient, may fall on him in an hour or in a year. He is the second son of a rich gentleman with an ancient family. His elder brother will inherit the land, so Basil chooses the law, though his true ambition is to write books.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1852
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Collins, Wilkie. Basil. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/basil.
Collins, W. (2026). Basil. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/basil (Original work published 1852)
Collins, Wilkie. Basil. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/basil.
@book{collins2026basil,
author = {Collins, Wilkie},
title = {Basil},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/basil},
note = {First published 1852}
}
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What is Basil by Wilkie Collins about?
Basil tells how a young gentleman falls for a draper's daughter, marries her in secret and agrees to a year of waiting. A clerk with a hidden past stands between them, and the family's pride is put to the test.
Who is Mannion in Basil?
Robert Mannion is Mr. Sherwin's confidential clerk. He is educated, calm and unreadable, with a still face and a quiet manner. He offers to help Basil, already holding great influence over the whole Sherwin household.
When was Basil written and is it a true story?
Collins published it as his second work of fiction, and revised it in 1862. He said the central event came from a fact he knew, and he kept the rest close to real life.
The author
Wilkie Collins
1824–1889 · English mystery novelist
Wilkie Collins was a British novelist and playwright born in London in 1824. He lived mainly in London and died there in 1889. His novels include The Woman in White (1859–1860), The Moonstone (1868), The Law and the Lady (1875), and The Black Robe (1881).
More by Wilkie Collins
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