Introduction -- Framed: a brief history of documents as narrative frames -- How he wrote his books: the apprentice years of framing testimony -- The woman in white: Collins launches the casebook novel -- Counterpoint witnessing in No name and Armadale -- The moonstone: Collins eclipses his first casebook -- Framed testimony in Collins's later novels -- The casebook after Collins -- Before Laura: Vera Caspary's early career and novels -- Laura: sensation roots of a noir novel -- Laura and Bedelia: "new woman" noir -- After Laura: Caspary's other casebook novels -- Caspary continues multiple focus -- Reframed: multiple focus in popular and literary texts -- Conclusion.
Summary:
"Wilkie Collins was one of the most popular novelists during England's Victorian era. This critical study explores his formal ingenuity, particularly the novel of testimony constructed from epistolary fiction, trial reports, and prose monologue. This text explores how the formal dialogue between Collins and Vera Caspary has linked sensation fiction with noir thrillers and film noir"--Provided by publisher.
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