After Dark is Wilkie Collins’s first collection of six short stories previously published in Household Words, a magazine edited by Charles Dickens. Collins provides a narrative framework, 'Leaves from Leah's Diary'. William Kerby, a portrait-painter, is in danger of losing his sight, and is required by his doctor to cease painting for a while. His wife Leah realizes that destitution threatens. But William is a good story-teller, and Leah has the idea of writing down his stories and publishing them.
Wilkie Collins, a remarkable observer of his time, knows how to portray these tortured souls. This book is a classic that has kept all its charm and definitely is a brilliantly written Masterpiece.