The Perils of Certain English Prisoners

Inspired by events of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, but wishing to distance himself from the context of India itself, Dickens chose to set his novella in Central America. In the diverting narrative that follows, the initiative of intrepid women prisoners enables the captives to escape. Following on from the success of The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, Hesperus presents another collaboration from close friends and literary giants, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. This adventure story takes place on an island near the English colony of Belize, where a silver mine is overrun by pirates, who in turn murder a number of English colonists and take the remaining prisoner. Their legendary friendship resulted in a number of joint literary ventures, in this case Collins wrote the second chapter under Dickens' supervision.