A Rogue's Life

Scion of a well-connected but impoverished family, Frank Softly may be the most audacious, outrageous, engaging, and thoroughly lovestruck young man in Regency London. By the age of 25, he's been in and out of doctoring, caricaturing, forging Old Masters, and counterfeiting half-crowns. Now a maliciously conceived will ties the loveable rascal's fortunes to those of his doddering grandmother and miserly brother-in-law. The ensuing scheme brings Frank up against a worthy adversary, the sinister Dr. Dulcifer, a conductor of secret experiments who also happens to be the father of a highly attractive young woman. Ranging from the British Isles to Australia, Frank's picaresque adventures enable Wilkie Collins to take a good-natured poke at a host of ready targets, including pretentious art collectors, puritanical English society, and stuffy self-improvement groups. Written with a light touch and charming sense of humor, A Rogue's Life offers a delightful diversion.