#The Moonstone

[unchangingwindoww]

In little things and great, with people she loved and with people she hated — and she did both with equal heartiness — Miss Rachel always went on a way of her own, sufficient for herself in the joys and the sorrows of her life. Over and over again I have heard my lady say, "Rachel's best friend and Rachel's worst enemy are, one and the other — Rachel herself." — Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone

Keeley Hawes as Rachel Verinder in The Moonstone (1996)

[dickensianenglishbulldog]

BRING BACK THE EPISTOLARY NOVEL!

[exocynraku]

Moonstone/Moonpool ships are Open!?!? :00000 Moth flight x The Moonstone then please and thank you <3

[godzilla-reads]

Over the last four days I haven’t felt very good and reading only made it worse (a curse, you say?).

Anyway, I’m feeling much better now and I’m slowly getting back into my books. Let’s see if I can read a chapter before work.

[tangledbea]

i'm rewatching the series (season finale) and in the part where cassandra realizes that there is still a splinter of the moonstone in her armor, rapunzel's hair flashes blonde and brunette. if she no longer had power, wasn't her hair supposed to turn blue or something? is she still the flower, like, even after they return the drops to the sky?

Since the movie came out, there has been debate about whether or not she still had any magic left in her after she brought Eugene back to life. I've always said no. The executive producer told me that he always believed she did still have some fragment of power left, but not enough for it to manifest.

Her touching the black rocks at the beginning of the series activated the power that is innately in her (according to him). It was some combination of the inactive Sundrop and the touch of the Moonstone, without being the Moonstone's power, itself.

If I had to guess, I'd say the splinter of Moonstone that remained was similar to the Sundrop post-movie: enough magic to be there, but not enough to manifest properly. And since she was just holding onto it, it wasn't embedded within her, the way it had been Cassandra, it flashed between activating her innate Sundrop and not activating it. So rather than give her the power of the Moonstone (blue hair), it gave her the power that touching the black rocks did (indestructible blonde hair).

So my guess that, even after she releases the combined Sundrop and Moonstone, yes: she is supposed to still innately be the Sundrop/flower, just as CS believed she was at the end of the movie.

[thebrightpreciousthings]

RECENT READS: "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins

"The horrid mystery hanging over us in this house gets into my head like liquor, and makes me wild."

[voxiiferous]

**| Final exam down! I now have two sweet, sweet uninterrupted weeks until my summer classes start and I am thrilled! And if anyone us curious to see the cover art I made for one of my classes!

I'm super curious to hear everyone's favourite because they're all super different.

[thethirdromana]

Suggestions for Tumblr's next book club

With Dracula Daily on the horizon again, I've been pondering what other out-of-copyright novels we might like to consider reading very slowly. Here are my ideas! And if any of them already exist, lmk.

North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell Year of publication: 1854-55 Length: 185,000 words, 52 chapters. So we could have a chapter weekly for a full year. Summary: Margaret Hale is forced to leave the rural south of England and settle in the rough, industrial north. There she clashes with mill-owner John Thornton over his treatment of his workers... Why Tumblr would like it: Enemies to Lovers! Class struggle! Fascinating historical context! Honestly, it's a great read.

Evelina

Author: Fanny Burney Year of publication: 1778 Length: 157,000 words in 84 letters. That's right, it's epistolary, and the letters are almost all sent March to October of the same year, so we could read this one in true Dracula Daily fashion. Summary: Evelina is the sheltered daughter of an aristocrat trying to make her way in the world of late 18th-century society. Why Tumblr would like it: Evelina is a likeable, relatable character. I think it'd be fun to get emails from her.

The Well of Loneliness

Author: Radclyffe Hall Year of publication: 1928 Length: 158,000 words in 56 chapters. Summary: The story of Stephen Gordon, a girl who realises at an early age that she's a lesbian, and her attempts to find love in the early 20th century. Why Tumblr would like it: It's one of the most iconic lesbian novels of the 20th century!

The War of the Worlds

Author: HG Wells Year of publication: 1897 Length: 63,000 words in 27 chapters. Summary: Alien invaders land from Mars and fuck up the south of England. Why Tumblr would like it: Alien invaders land from Mars and fuck up the south of England, come on, what's not to like?

The Moonstone

Author: Wilkie Collins Year of publication: 1868 Length: 200,000 words (so a bit of a marathon) in 51 chapters. Summary: A young English woman inherits a large Indian diamond of dubious provenance on her 18th birthday. Then it gets stolen! Why Tumblr would like it: One of the first detective novels, and supposed to be one of the best, it's a page turner with lots of suspense, twists and cliffhanger endings.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Author: Agatha Christie Year of publication: 1920 Length: 60,000 words in 13 chapters. Summary: The first murder mystery starring Hercule Poirot. Why Tumblr would like it: Look, you liked Glass Onion, right? And if you like this, Agatha Christie's novels are emerging from copyright at the rate of about two per year.

Les Misérables

Author: Victor Hugo Year of publication: 1862 Length: 570,000 words in the English translation (ouch) in 365 chapters. Summary: A vast, sweeping story of poverty, justice and revolution in early 19th century France. Why Tumblr would like it: Well, if you thought Moby Dick didn't have enough digressions...

The Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer Year of publication: 1387-1400 Length: 24 stories averaging 700 lines each. Summary: Some pilgrims are heading to Canterbury. They tell one another stories to pass the time. These are their stories. Why Tumblr would like it: I mean, there's a reason we still read these 600 years later. They're a fascinating insight into medieval life, but they're also - for the most part - just good fun.

If you love any of these suggestions and would really like to see it take off, reblog to help make it happen.

[litandlifequotes]

Your tears come easy, when you’re young, and beginning the world. Your tears come easy, when you’re old, and leaving it. I burst out crying.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

[tomoleary]

L. B. Cole "The Moonstone" Classics Illustrated #30 Painted Cover Original Art (Gilberton, 1960) Source

[sunlitsorrows]

this is the MOST Victorian book I have EVER read EVERYONE is all up in EVERYBODY ELSE’S business while REFUSING to explain THEMSELVES and while they ALL AGREE (even if they won’t admit it) the Moonstone is CURSED, and there is a A LITERAL BAND OF ACTUAL REAL LIFE ASSASSINS* LOOKING FOR IT, not ONE of these people

🎶NO NO NOT ONE🎶

NOT ONE OF THEM ever thinks (it has not EVEN OCCURRED to a SINGLE ONE OF THEM) maybe… just maybe… they should give it back to the people it was stolen from…

.

.

.

(disclaimer I am only a little over half way through the book, perhaps someone one will have the idea before it’s over, but I’m laughing too hard to think so)

(*I’m not convinced they are but the characters are so…)

[105nt]

I listened to Elly Griffiths and James Naughtie talk about The Moonstone.

[dickensianenglishbulldog]

How to tell if you have been reading too many Victorian books:

If someone comes to you in distress/pain is your first thought just: We NeEd BrAnDy!!!🥃

[fictionadventurer]

🪅, 🐿, and 👒, please?

🪅 A book that came as a complete surprise to you

I was astonished by how enthralling (and fun) the narrative voices were in The Moonstone, and even more astonished by how much I loved Marian Halcombe (probably my favorite character I've encountered in Victorian literature) in The Woman in White.

🐿 A series you'd like to have more and more and more of

I'd like to have more and more books in the Emma M. Lion series, and since we're only on Volume 7 on a planned 24, it sounds like we're going to get it.

👒 A book that you like, but not for the reason most people do

I love Anne of Windy Poplars (partially) because of the letters between Anne and Gilbert, not in spite of them.

[godzilla-reads]

Fun Story: My mom and I call this book “the curse” because no one in our family (me and her) have ever been able to finish it and this book is on the “I better read this before I die” list.

[tangledbea]

Hi there!

Quick question.

Do you know what could've happened if Cass DID end up touching the sundrop in Plus Est En Vous before Zhan Tiri got to her?

Would she die or get consumed by the Sundrop?

I am DYING to know!!!

This is an interesting question, because the fact is, we don't know.

We know that the two stones touching cause an explosion.

We know that one person can be in possession of both stones at the same time without anything happening to them (other than gaining the power of both).

But we also know that, until the Sundrop abruptly manifests as a chunk of rock that could be pulled out of her, Rapunzel was the Sundrop. That was why her taking the Moonstone was a danger. There was a possibility that it would have been alright, but no guarantee. Cassandra was never the Moonstone. She was just in possession of it.

There's no evidence that she would have been consumed by the Sundrop. There's no hard evidence that she'd die. She might just have both of the stones, unless she was fool enough to let them touch.