Poor Miss Finch

1908. A close friend of Charles Dickens, Collins is one of the most readable of the Victorian novelists and some critics credit him with the invention of Sensation/Detective novels. Lucilla Finch, who has been blind since early childhood, falls in love with Oscar Dubourg. After a head injury, Oscar develops epilepsy, and then turns blue from the treatment. Lucilla harbors an irrational hatred of dark colors, including dark skin; so, Oscar devises to hide his blueness from Lucilla until after their marriage. When his twin brother visits, Oscar tells Lucilla that Nugent is the blue man, a deception that backfires when Nugent-who has fallen in love with Lucilla himself-brings in Herr Grosse, an oculist who cures Lucilla's blindness. Her first vision is of Nugent, who sabotages Oscar by assuming his identity and making it impossible for Oscar to reveal the truth. Oscar goes abroad, becoming a nurse, but returns in time to rescue Lucilla-who is blind again-from marrying Nugent. After the brothers reconcile, Lucilla and Oscar marry and have two children; Nugent freezes to death during an Arctic expedition. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.