The Collector

This is the story of bank clerk Ferdinand Clegg, who is devoted to collecting butterflies and is in love with a young artist, Miranda. One day, Clegg wins a large sum of money, buys a country manor, kidnaps Miranda, and locks her in the basement of his house. From now on, the girl is destined to become a new, valuable specimen in Ferdinand’s collection. During all the time of her imprisonment, Miranda is a delicate, soulful person—she keeps a diary. But in that diary, she places not her captor first, but her former world, from which she was unexpectedly torn away by a dull and merciless force. Clegg cannot understand the girl’s desire to return to a life familiar to her. After all, in his view, she has everything she needs for happiness. He carries out all her whims and wishes without sparing money—except for one thing: he doesn’t allow Miranda to leave her captivity.
In this novel, there is everything: subtle reflections and a tightly wound plot, psychological realism and a mysterious atmosphere, beauty and ugliness.