A concise overview of the life and work of nineteenth-century British novelist Wilkie Collins, the author of two of my favorite gothic novels, 'The Woman in White' and 'The Moonstone.' The book is part of 'Ackroyd's Brief Lives' series and, in this case, the brevity is sometimes frustrating, where more context and description--on amateur theatre or copyright law or the movements for women's rights or anti-vivisection, for example--has obviously been excised. Still, Ackroyd's focus on Collins's working methods and unconventional lifestyle are fascinating, and I admire his decision not to psycho-analyze his subject.