Wilkie Collins and the big, bright diamond

I avoided reading The Moonstone for several years because of the novel's premise.  I was pretty sure that I would find a Victorian era novel about a representative of the British empire stealing a priceless Indian diamond and the inevitable "Hindoo" curse that followed him and his extended family to be supremely offensive to my sensibilities.  But I decided to give it a shot because people seriously love this book, it's been on my shelf for a long time, I had a feeling it would be pretty amazing as an audiobook, and winter is a good time to settle down with a mystery novel.

The Moonstone centers on a diamond stolen from a temple in India.  It ends up in England and Rachel Verinder receives it as an 18th birthday present, wowing everyone with its size and glitter and value.  She (stupidly) decides not to lock it up at night and then everyone is shocked when the diamond is no longer there in the morning.  Suspicion immediately falls on three Indian men who have been hanging about the village, but things are not quite as clear as they seem.

And I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with this book!  (Caveats to follow shortly.)  I really enjoyed the multiple narrators employed to tell the story.  I always love books with multiple narrators, and Collins gave each of the narrators very distinct personalities and voices.  And Wilkie Collins clearly had a very well-developed sense of humor and probably was a fantastic dinner party guest.  The slightly sarcastic asides, the gentle nudges in your side, the obsession with Robinson Crusoe and God and the rigidity of the class system - it's pretty clear that Collins knew his audience well and used his book to mock them just a little bit.  I loved it.  There are some truly memorable characters and laugh-out-loud moments here (particularly in scenes involving the sanctimonious cousin, who dropped ridiculously-named religious pamphlets like "Satan is in the Pillowcases" everywhere).

It was also a jolly good (the Victorian era has rubbed off on my vocabulary) story.  Yes, there's the mystery, of course, which is pretty great.  But there's so much more, too!  The way in which Rachel inherits her money and how that influences suitors for her hand.  The way in which so many Victorian men led double lives of vice and virtue.  (Vice & Virtue would TOTALLY have been an amazing Jane Austen book if she had lived to write it.)  The way some people claimed to be so religious but really were just self-absorbed.  The very Victorian way people had of bursting/dying/pining/sighing for the people they loved, while remaining stoic on the outside.

So yes!  It's a lot of fun!

BUT I was seriously annoyed with the way everyone kept referring to the three Indian men as being thieves!  I mean, come ON, people, you know how your shady relative stole the diamond, and you KNOW the history about there always being three Brahmin guardians to watch over the diamond, and you KNOW that the diamond is cursed.  And yet!  You still insist that it was Miss Rachel Verinder's diamond and completely ignore all of history to hone all of your resources on the Indian men.  How very British Imperial mindset of you.  #blinderson

Slight spoiler to follow:  (Highlight to see text.)  I admit, if the book had ended differently than it actually did, I totally would have knocked the rating down a serious peg or two.  The entire way through the book, I was concerned about the ending, but luckily Wilkie came through for me.  So perhaps Wilkie was making a point to his crazy countrymen, hmm?  Hooray for him!!

I think Wilkie Collins used this book to highlight many hypocrisies that existed in Victorian England.  He also used the book to tell a pretty great story, and he succeeded in reaching both his goals.  This was a really fun read, and definitely a book I will keep on my shelf.  I also highly recommend you to seek out a good audiobook edition, preferably one with a whole cast to take on the roles of each of the narrators!

Also, the book is probably going to make you want to read Robinson Crusoe.  So, just be prepared.