Jennings ends his journal despairing about his “friendless and lonely life,” but pleased to have brought Franklin and Rachel back together. Unabridged audiobook. Gabriel Betteredge, steward to Lady Verinder, born Julia Herncastle, has been asked by Franklin Blake, Lady Verinder's nephew, to write a full account of the events surrounding the theft of the Moonstone from Lady Verinder's house. The novel’s next narrator is the lawyer Mr. Bruff, who first explains why Rachel and Godfrey really ended their engagement: Godfrey only wanted Rachel’s money, which Julia’s will prohibited him from getting. Ezra Jennings, assistant to Lady Verinder's doctor, Dr. Candy, provides an explanation. The novel’s long first section is set in Yorkshire in 1848, at the residence of the Lady Julia Verinder and her wealthy family. At dinner, 24 guests join the family, including the eccentric and socially inept doctor Mr. Candy, who argues with Franklin about the value of his profession, and the mysterious Anglo-Indian traveler Mr. Murthwaite, who scares away the three Indians when they return to the house that night and tells Franklin and Betteredge that the Diamond puts its owner in serious danger. Rachel acts strangely, refusing to help with the investigation and treats Franklin harshly. The object of everyone's attention is the Moonstone, a beautiful and flawed diamond that was stolen from the statue of a moon good from a shrine in a remote area of India. Each narrator provides us with an exclusive insight into the plot. According to Sandra Kemp, it was originally supposed to only consist of 26 installments, but was so well received by readers that Collins added more Victorian era touches to the novel, increasing it to fill up 6 more issues of All the Year Round (Collins xii). During this month, the Indians disappear and Rachel and Franklin grow very close, painting her bedroom door together for hours and inciting suspicion about whether they might marry. Mr. Bruff, the family lawyer, next explains that Rachel broke off the engagement because she had information that Godfrey intended to marry her for money (Lady Verinder has recently died, and Rachel is now an heiress). The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Struggling with distance learning? But Franklin has competition: the wealthy, handsome, and charitable Godfrey Ablewhite, another cousin of Rachel’s, will come for her birthday and is clearly seeking her hand. The next short narrative is a letter from Mr. Candy, in which he recounts Ezra Jennings’s death and burial in an unmarked grave. Our study guide has summaries, insightful analyses, and everything else you need to understand The Moonstone. After their meeting, Franklin returns to Yorkshire, where he meets with the old family doctor Mr. Candy, who fell sick on the night of Rachel’s birthday and has never recovered—unable to hold a train of thought, Candy insists he has something to tell Franklin but cannot remember what it is. The Moonstone opens with a written account of the large, yellow, Moonstone diamond, sacred to Hindus as the centerpiece in their idol of the god of the Moon. The novel begins in India, with a Prologue written by an anonymous member of the Verinder family, a cousin and fellow soldier to the Colonel John Herncastle. He had two options: take from Rachel’s estate, or sell the Moonstone. The Moonstone Summary. The moonstone in the title refers to a brilliant but flawed gem seized by a British officer in India. It has been commanded that three Brahmin priests must always guard the stone. However, this does help explain Rachel’s behavior towards him after the theft, and he visits her, whereupon she confirms that she “saw [him] take the Diamond with [her] own eyes!” She is still furious at him, but also clearly still loves him. The theft occurred by a Mohammedan emperor in the eleventh century. A diamond goes missing after a party at an English country house, and numerous suspects have a motive for its disappearance. Indeed, Collins’ novel is often considered the first – yes, you read that right – the first detective novel even written. They hear a story about a legendary Indian jewel called the Moonstone, which is used in Hindu religious rituals. The Moonstone Summary. The anonymous narrator begins by tracing the Moonstone’s history, which begins in the ancient temple of Somnauth, where the Diamond was embedded in the head of a statue of the Hindu moon god. At the Shivering Sand, Franklin reveals a secret to Betteredge: he has the Moonstone, which the late Colonel Herncastle has willed to Rachel Verinder as her 18th birthday present. Herncastle returns to England with the stone. Lady Verinder's household is in disarray at the startling news of Rosanna's death and the incredible news of Cuff's suspicion of honest Rachel. Just minutes thereafter, Julia dies downstairs (but Clack decides not to attend her funeral). • Rachel Verinder inherits her uncle's Indian Diamond on her eighteenth birthday. Cuff realizes, however, that the sailor is wearing a disguise; he pulls it off and reveals the man he had come to suspect of the crime: Godfrey Ablewhite. After some digressions, he recounts the multi-talented but spendthrift “universal genius” Franklin Blake’s return to England at the age of 25, after more than a decade living and attending schools in Europe, to which his eccentric father had sent him. Detective fiction/mystery. Download The Moonstone free in PDF & EPUB format. Cuff believes that Rosanna was working in cooperation with Rachel Verinder, who stole her own diamond to pay personal debts. When the gem disappears from a young Englishwoman’s room and three My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, an anonymous member of the Verinder family. • The Moonstone disappears on the night of Rachel's birthday. Astonishingly, all three come true: Limping Lucy, the Yollands’ daughter, leaves a letter for Franklin Blake (who has already left for Europe), and the newspaper reports that “three strolling Indians” have been harassing Mr. Luker in London. Franklin suspects that John Herncastle knew that his life was in danger because of the Moonstone and that John had willed the ill-fated diamond to Rachel as a gesture of malice towards Lady Verinder. The experiment both succeeds and fails: it proves that Franklin did initially, unwittingly steal the Diamond; but it does not give any clue as to where the Diamond might be now. Cuff correctly determines that Godfrey has been leading a double life. Betteredge’s narrative, and the first section of the book, ends here. Several days after the theft, Cuff tracks Rosanna and finds that she has gone to great pains to hide a package and has then committed suicide. Back in London, Mr. Bruff has tracked the diamond from Septimus Luker to a sailor with a dark complexion. Part 1 of 2 of The Moonstone by Wilkie COLLINS (1824 - 1889). The sailor is Godfrey Ablewhite, disguised. Murthwaite is sure that the Indians will try to steal it at this time—late June of the following year, 1849. The novel ends with a series of brief narratives. Watch with Prime. She next reports that the three Indians attacked, restrained, and searched not only Mr. Septimus Luker, who apparently deposited the Moonstone in his bank for safekeeping, but also Clack’s beloved Godfrey Ablewhite, whom she considers a “Christian Hero” and who serves on the committees for women’s charities alongside her. Franklin Blake, editor of all the narratives, takes over the story with his return to England upon his father’s death in 1849. The film retains the book's British location, but uses a contemporary 1930s setting rather than the Victorian era of the original. Clack begins at once by offering Julia numerous religious pamphlets, which she rejects, and then hiding them strategically around her house. Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone is a seminal work in the field of detective literature. Franklin is vindicated, and Franklin and Rachel are reconciled and engaged. It was subsequently looted at the siege of Seringapatam in southern India in 1799 by Colonel John Herncastle. Seegrave proves himself inept, and Franklin calls for the famed Sergeant Cuff of London to take over the case. Astonished, Franklin begins to drink while he and Betteredge read Rosanna’s letter. When he arrives, he remembers his history with Rachel and determines to win back her heart, or at least discover why she so suddenly turned against him after the Moonstone’s theft and has refused to contact him since. They give up their high caste, and even disguise themselves as entertainers in order to get in to the Verinders’ estate. Betteredge then tries to comfort the distraught ex-convict maid Rosanna Spearman at the Shivering Sand, an expanse of sinister quicksand on the coast near the Verinders’ house, but Franklin Blake shows up unexpectedly and Rosanna leaves. Surely enough, the sailor has not been heard from—and then is found dead in his room, from which the Indians seem to have stolen the Moonstone. But when Rachel decides to leave home for some time, Cuff determines that the Diamond was never stolen, and that Rachel still has it. TV-PG . The Moonstone is a BBC adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ celebrated detective novel of the same name from 1868. When Clack discovers that Godfrey is visiting but does not want to speak with her, she hides in the curtains and is astonished to watch Godfrey propose marriage to Rachel, and then persuade her to accept. His identity and the origin of his narrative add to the mystery surrounding the Moonstone and its curse. Read The Moonstone online by Wilkie Collins at ReadCentral.com, the free online library full of thousands of classic books. When the temple was plundered in the 11th century, the stone’s protectors moved it to the holy city from Benares, where the god Vishnu commanded them and their descendants to guard it “to the end of the generations of men.” In the 18th century, a Mughal emperor had the Diamond stolen, and in 1799, the devilish Herncastle stole it from Seringapatnam, in the process killing a man who promised that “The Moonstone will have its vengeance yet on you and yours!”. The Moonstone opens with a letter detailing the circumstances of John Herncastle's theft of the yellow Diamond during the siege of Seringapatam, a historic battle in Britain's colonization of India. Herncastle may have given Rachel the Diamond as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation, but may have also sought revenge by gifting them a curse. The Moonstone, one of the first English detective novels, written by Wilkie Collins and published in 1868. The final narrative is from Gabriel Betteredge, who praises Robinson Crusoe yet again before announcing that Franklin and Rachel have married, and Rachel is now pregnant. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Sure enough, the next morning, someone has stolen the Diamond from Rachel’s cabinet, although the Indians could not have possibly entered the house. When the fabulous Moonstone diamond is stolen, all the suspects appear to have alibis. Now you can read The Moonstone free from the comfort of your computer or mobile phone and enjoy other many other free books by Wilkie Collins. Audio languages. Colonel Herncastle, an unpleasant former soldier, brings the Moonstone back with him from India where he acquired it by theft and murder during the Siege of Seringapatam. The same day as Franklin’s arrival, three Indian men who appear to be traveling magicians come to the Verinder estate, presumably looking for a place to stay, which Betteredge’s daughter Penelope plans to give them. 44min. Indeed, Franklin has noticed a suspicious Indian-looking man follow him to the bank whenever he has business concerning the Moonstone, and he thinks he might have something to do with the three jugglers who have mysteriously shown up in Yorkshire. Franklin, under in the influence of opium, had given the gem to Godfrey after taking it from Rachel's room and asked Godfrey to store it safely in his father's bank. This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, one of the first modern detective novels written in the English language. Franklin Blake picks up the narrative again for the next section, in which he goes with Mr. Bruff, Bruff’s young assistant Gooseberry, and Sergeant Cuff to search for the Diamond in London. Franklin agrees, and they begin preparing for the experiment, which Ezra Jennings recounts in detail in his journal. The Moonstone Summary In 1799, Colonel John Herncastle and his cousin are taking part in the British invasion of the Indian Seringapatam. The group of investigators goes to the pub where Gooseberry saw the sailor check in and another man follow him. After talking with an adventurous colonist named Mr. Murthwaite, Bruff realizes that the Indian man really wanted to learn what a normal loan repayment term would be, in order to determine when Luker will have to take the Moonstone out of the bank. The Moonstone Summary. The Moonstone is a magnificent yellow diamond 'large as a plover's egg' which had originally adorned the forehead of the Hindu moon-god. Herncastle steals the sacred Moonstone, dies, and bequeaths the gem to his niece before the start of the novel. Rachel moves to Brighton with the Ablewhites, and Clack decides to save her soul instead. He had been killed by the Indians, who have returned to India with the Moonstone and restored it to the forehead of their idol. With Greg Wise, Keeley Hawes, Terrence Hardiman, Mellan Mitchell. Franklin's suspicions are further roused when he notices Indian men following him, both in London and at Lady Verinder's country estate. The last of these narratives comes from the traveler Mr. Murthwaite, who gets caught up in a mass pilgrimage to the temple of Somnauth, where he watches the three Indians he had last seen in Britain unveil the statue of the moon god, restored to its proper glory with the Moonstone in its forehead. It has been commanded that three Brahmin priests must always guard the stone. Now flash forward a couple of decades: our narrator is now Gabriel Betteredge, the old steward or butler for a wealthy English family living in the country. It brings bad luck to each of its English possessors. The Moonstone: a novel by Wilkie Collins. In the first, Cuff presents the evidence confirming that the Indians murdered Godfrey Ablewhite and left England with the Diamond, before explaining Godfrey’s motives for stealing the Diamond in the first place: despite his public image as a morally upstanding philanthropist, in reality Godfrey had a mistress and villa outside London, and spent 20,000 pounds of money from a trust that was not his, and that he needed to replace immediately. Rachel Verinder is the niece and heir of the evil John Herncastle. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Fortunately, Candy’s assistant Ezra Jennings, a hideous and terminally ill but sincere and ambitious fellow doctor, has managed to piece together Candy’s disconnected thoughts and learned that, on the night of Rachel’s birthday, Candy slipped laudanum (opium) into Franklin’s drink after dinner as a practical joke; they had been arguing about the value of medicine, and Franklin had been sleeping badly because he recently quit smoking. Rosanna, who also seems to have feelings for Franklin, begins behaving erratically and arouses everyone’s suspicion. Angry at his family, who shun him, he leaves it in his will as a birthday gift to his niece Rachel, thus exposing her to attack by the stone's hereditary guardians, who will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Sir John Herncastle, a dishonorable man and family outcast, has left the Moonstone to Lady Verinder's daughter Rachel to be given to her on her eighteenth birthday. Eliot as the first and greatest of English detective novels. Download Wilkie Collins. Desperately, Clack offers to become Rachel’s new guardian, and Rachel immediately refuses. The idea was for the novel itself to be like a collection of evidence so that the readers could be put in the position of the detective (or even a jury! He reports to Lady Julia that he believes Rosanna and Rachel were working together and develops a detailed plan to expose their partnership; Julia instead decides to tell Rachel about Rosanna’s death. This has aroused suspicion about Godfrey’s possible role in the theft, but when he tells Rachel (whom Clack considers dishonorable and unladylike), she signs a document declaring him innocent. A debased Englishman steals the moonstone, a sacred gem, from India. Cuff suspects Rosanna Spearman, a housemaid of Lady Verinder's and a reformed thief, of having played a part in the theft. Summary • The novel consists of a series of narratives from some of the main characters. Prologue: 1. She also grows furious with Franklin Blake despite their budding relationship, and refuses to talk with him until his departure. Episode 2. He proposes an ambitious experiment: they will recreate the events of the previous year, from Franklin quitting smoking to resetting the house exactly as it was on the night of the theft, and then slip Franklin laudanum again and see what happens. Betteredge has been given the job of … Rachel declares “she has never spoken a word in private to Rosanna.” Julia takes her to London and fires Cuff, who leaves dutifully after predicting that Betteredge will soon hear from the three Indians, a London gem dealer named Septimus Luker, and Rosanna’s friends, the Yolland family. The Moonstone, by Wilke Collins, is an exciting nineteenth century English detective story. It is narrated by the Verinders’ butler Gabriel Betteredge, who begins with a quote from his favorite book, Robinson Crusoe, and goes on to explain that the family lawyer Mr. Bruff and Mr. Franklin Blake (a cousin of Rachel Verinder) are putting together a written record of the Diamond’s theft. If he doesn't find it, then Rachel, the love of his life, will be lost to him forever. Subtitles. She proclaims her love for him and explains that she hid his stained nightgown and made him a new one as a “means of shielding [him] from being discovered.” Franklin feels guilty for unwittingly contributing to Rosanna’s suicide, but also still does not understand how he could have stolen the Diamond, since he was not drunk and does not sleepwalk. This hypothesis is proven when Jennings stages a reenactment of the night the gem was stolen, and Franklin replicates his actions exactly, again under the influence of opium. One day, the lawyer Mr. Bruff visits and talks with Rachel; the next day, Rachel declares she “shall never marry Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite.” She tells Godfrey and he wholeheartedly agrees to cancel the engagement, but his parents do not: Mr. Ablewhite yells furiously at Rachel and then at Miss Clack when she tries to intervene with some Christian pamphlets. Notes . 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