The Law and the Lady cover

The Law and the Lady

by Wilkie Collins

By the time The Law and the lady appeared in 1873, The Woman in white and The Moonstone had already established Collins as the leading practitioner of 'sensation fiction'. The Law and the lady builds on this tradition by introducing one of English literature's earliest women detectives, Valeria Woodville, who investigates the murder of her husband's first wife, in the attempt to prove him guiltless. Rich in plot and characters, including the extraordinary 'man-machine' Miserrimus Dexter and his female cousin 'Ariel', the novel exposes the repression of Victorian domestic life and marriage.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?