This book is written as a series of stories by portrait painter, Mr. Kerby, as dictated to his wife while recovering from an affliction of the eyes. The book was originally written around 1856 and the narrative style is enjoyable. The stories are of the strange and unusual variety related to Mr. Kerby during portrait sittings. Because the stories stand on their own, this was a great book to read while traveling. ( )

In his usual genius fashion, Collins uses an epistolary format to link together 7 stories about everything from murder to sculpture, to France's Reign of Terror. Each of these stories comes from the mind of a Mr. Kerby, a portrait painter who always requests his posers to tell him a tale while he takes their likenesses. The short story format makes this a great book for casual reading. Very enjoyable. ( )