What do You think about A Rogue's Life (2006)?
A slight and comical picaresque. The young rogue, Frank Softly, comes from vaguely aristocratic stock but also has relatives in the trades and a physician father. He has an exceedingly difficult time earning a living. After a stint in debtors prison, he sells caricatures and paints fake Old Masters before a buyer of one of his Rembrandts threatens a lawsuit. He falls in love with a mysterious woman and is roped into working for her father's criminal enterprise, currency counterfeiting. That story line, comprising the second half of the novella, feels stale and stupid, but Collins creates a fabulous character in Softly's grandmother, Lady Malkinshaw, whose impaired senses are constantly sending her tumbling down stairs or crashing through plate glass windows, cheating death only due to serendipitously placed baskets of laundry and the turban she wears when fully dressed. After each of these incidents she emerges robuster and healthier than ever. Collins should have written a whole novel centered on this absurd woman.If you were studying anti-Semitism in 19th century literature you might want to include this novella. The trader in fake Old Masters for whom Softly goes to work is Mr Ishmael Pickup - "there is not the least need to describe him - he was a Jew." In "the Jew's workshop", Pickup tells Softly, "no pay, my dear, unlesh your Rembrandt ish good enough to take me in - even me, Ishmael, who dealsh in pictersh and knowsh what'sh what."
—Lobstergirl
A ROGUE’S LIFE. (1856). Wilkie Collins. ***.This short novel by Collins was first serialized in “Household Words,” a magazine edited by Charles Dickens. The two authors were tight friends, and collaborated on several works. Collins is credited with having written the first detective novels, including “The Moonstone,” and “The Woman in White.” This work, written in the first person, is a semi-humorous account of the doings of Frank Softly, a young man of meager means – though from a highly respected family. It manages to show the downside of being born to a high-class family who, though high-class, has no money. His father was a doctor, but with no sustainable practice. His only hope was in the inheritance of a small subsistence from his grandmother. Frank is forced to seek his lively hood on his own. He starts out as a drawer of charactures, which he sells on an individual basis, and, later, in collections. This work is finally put down by the outrage of his family. He then turns to producing fake “old masters” for sale to an unsuspecting public. It is then that he meets the love of his life, Alicia. Alicia is a strange girl, completely under the thrall of her father. Her father seems to have a great deal of money, but no identifiable trade. Later, Frank learns that dear old dad is a counterfeiter, and gets sucked into the trade. The tale goes on from there – proving that Frank is indeed a rogue. This is not great writing, but was probably typical of the type of stuff that was serialized in magazines of the day. Some of the defects of that form are also present in the work, such that the author provides chapter endings that look forward to the next issue’s adventures.
—Tony
Very enjoyable and amusingly written story of a young man in late 19th Century England. His mother was from a titled family with no money, and his father was a doctor but they lived as high as their money would allow due to their position in society.The young man, Frank Softly, was very cunning. Due to the lack of funds, though, he was forced to be a doctor, as his father. He had an artistic ability and, on the side, drew caricatures and became mildly in demand, but had to remain anonymous.When his family found out that he was the person doing caricatures, they gave him an ultimatum and he decided to leave home.That wasn't a continued success as he spent more than he made. He was forced to debtors prison.An uncle who passed away had made money selling soap and he made an odd provision in his will. If Frank survived his grandmother, then the money from the uncle would go to Frank's sister. Frank used this to get his brother in law to continually help him.Frank ended up seeing a young woman, Alicia Dulcifer, and instantly fell in love. She, too, was in love with Frank, but could not accept Frank as a suitor because of a secret she withheld about her father.In the pursuit of Alicia, Frank gets in trouble with the law and it's only because of his love for Alicia. The ending is satisfying as they finally marry, but even that has a twist that makes this a very enjoyable book.
—Ruby Bibi
