Hide and SeekBesides its mystery-story elements, "Hide and Seek" succeeds as a warm, entertaining tale that blends domestic comedy, pathos, humor and a smattering of social protest. It also enabled Collins to introduce a gallery of memorable characters: Mary Grice (nicknamed Madonna), the gentle deaf-mute whose mysterious origins and tragic early life forms the basis of the novel; the engaging and voluble Zack Thorpe, of whom Mary is enamored; her guardian Valentine Blyth - a failure as an artist but a success as a human being - and Mathew Marksman, the strange and wild woodsman who finally unravels the shocking story of Mary's true origins. |
