There are few women in literature who I believe were created with such villany as Lydia Gwilt. Unfortunately, there is one other person in the world who knows the secret - a villainous woman named Lydia Gwilt, who decides to use this secret to her advantage. He is horrified and vows never to reveal the secret to his dear friend. Due to the miraculous coincidences of the Victorian sensation novels, Midwinter has by chance befriended the other Armadale, and come to love him as a brother. After his father's death, this Armadale takes the name of Ozias Midwinter, after a foster father (which is very convenient for the plot, since it makes them easier to tell them apart.) When he comes of age, he learns his father's terrible secret, which involves the father of the other Allan Armadale. The story begins with the father of one of the men making a long deathbed confession as his toddler son plays nearby. For convoluted reasons, there are two men who are named Allan Armadale, as were both their fathers.

The plot of this novel is really hard to sum up quickly. Two of the books I added to my Classics Club list are from his lesser-known works I read and enjoyed No Name just a couple of months ago, so I was eager to read Armadale.

His most famous novels are The Moonstone and The Woman in White, but he was quite a prolific author.

Wilkie Collins is really well known for his early detective novels, and his Victorian sensation stories.

Collins wilkie armadale