Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) studied law and was admitted to the bar but never practiced. Instead, he devoted his time to writing and is best known for his novels The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone, which has been called the finest detective story ever written. A number of his works were collaborations with his close friend, Charles Dickens. The Woman in White so gripped the imagination of the world that Wilkie Collins had his own tombstone inscribed: “Author of The Woman in White.”
Samuel West's long and distinguished career on stage and screen has earned him roles in Cambridge Spies, Waking the Dead, Notting Hill, and Iris, as well as a BAFTA nomination for his performance in Howards End. He has also narrated several audio books, including Sebastian Faulks' Charlotte Gray, for which he won a Talkie Award, and Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders.