WilkieCollinsWilliamWilkieCollins,theoldestsonofafashionablepainter，wasborninLondonon8January,1824.CollinswasnamedafterSirDavidWilkie,afriendofthefamily.Hisearlycareerwasinbusiness,buthethenstudiedlawandwasactuallycalledtotheBar,butheapparentlyneverpracticed.Healsotriedhishandatpainting,andwrotemanyarticlesandstoriesthatwerepublishedanonymously.Hisfirstmajorpublishedworkwasabiographyofhisfather,andthepopularityofthisbookencouragedhimtowriteseriouslyforaliving.Hisfirstnovel,AntoninaorTheFallofRomewaspublishedin1850.Thiswasahistoricalwork,alongthelinesofBulwer-Lytton’sTheLastDaysofPompeii（《庞贝的末日》）.Itwasquitesuccessful,butistodayprettywellunreadable.In1851,CollinswasintroducedtoCharlesDickensbyamutualfriend,AugustusEgg.ThiswasaseminalpointinCollins’career.Thetwoformedalong-lastingfriendship,andworkedtogetheronDickens’magazines,HouseholdWords,andAlltheYearRound,inwhichmanyoftheirworkswereserialized.Collinswasoneofthepioneersofthemysteryandsuspensegenre,andhismostfamousnovelsincludeTheWomaninWhiteandTheMoonstone.MostofTheMoonstonewasdictatedwhilehewasillinbedandinextremepain.Hediedin1889.用心爱心专心
