No Name

No Name is an 1862 novel by Wilkie Collins. Illegitimacy is a major theme of the novel. It was originally serialised in Charles Dickens's magazine All the Year Round before book publication. It is the second of his four "great novels", released after The Woman in White (1860) and before Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868).

Plot summary

The story is told in eight major parts, called Scenes.

Scene One begins in 1846, at Combe-Raven in West Somerset, the country residence of the wealthy Vanstone family: Andrew Vanstone, his wife, and their two daughters. Norah, age 26, is happy and quiet; Magdalen, 18, is beautiful but volatile and wilful. The family lives in peace and contentment, with the girls' former governess, Miss Garth.

Through amateur theatricals, Magdalen discovers she is a talented actress. She falls in love with Frank Clare, who is also in the play. Frank, the idle but handsome son of a neighbour, has reluctantly tried to pursue a career but failed, and his father is not wealthy. However, the young couple wish to marry and Magdalen's fortune will easily support them.

Their fathers agree to the marriage, but before it takes place Mr. Vanstone is killed in a train crash and Mrs. Vanstone dies in childbirth. The family lawyer, Mr. Pendril, tells Norah and Magdalen that despite appearances their parents had only been married for a few months, and their wedding invalidated Mr. Vanstone's will leaving everything to the daughters.

Since the daughters are illegitimate, they have no name, no rights, and no property. Combe-Raven and the entire family fortune are inherited by Andrew's older brother, Michael Vanstone, who has been bitterly estranged from the family for many years. He refuses to provide any support for the orphaned young women. With the help only of Miss Garth, they set out to make their own way in the world....