Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Wilkie Collins, like his character, Ezra Jennings, was addicted to opium. He started taking it to treat the almost debilitating pain from his rheumatic gout. In fact, in the preface to a later edition of The Moonstone, he admitted to having written Miss Clack's narrative while in excruciating pain. He had to dictate that part of the novel to a secretary because he was unable to write himself. (Source)
Wilkie Collins was a close friend of the famous novelist Charles Dickens. Although Collins was very popular during his life, his reputation took a nose-dive after he died. Dickens, on the other hand, remained popular even after his death. (Source)
Wilkie Collins had several long-term mistresses – very scandalous in the nineteenth century! Perhaps because of his own love life, the idea of leading a double life comes up in several of his novels. Take, for example, Godfrey Ablewhite in The Moonstone, who has a secret mistress. (Source)