The stage drama and book No Thoroughfare, by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, were both published in December 1867. No Thoroughfare: A Drama: In Five Acts was a theatre drama written in 1867 by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Previously, the two had worked together on the play The Frozen Deep. Dickens' final stage production was this one; he passed away in June 1870. On December 26, 1867, the drama had its premiere at the Adelphi Theatre. The first edition of Dickens' book No Thoroughfare appeared in the Christmas issue of his magazine All the Year Round in 1867. Other books from Dickens's mature writings, like Little Dorrit (1857) and Our Mutual Friend, have similar themes to this one (1865). An early instance of commercial merchandising, the story's publication in All The Year Round promoted both the play to those who had read the book and the story to those who were aware of the theatrical production. The book's chapters, which are referred to as "acts," correspond to the scenes in the play. The narrative includes skillfully worded descriptions, diverse and well-drawn people, unsettling and exotic settings, mystery, partially revealed identities, near-death experiences, romance, and the ultimate triumph of Good over Evil.
Wilkie Collins was an English author and playwright who lived from 8 January 1824 to 23 September 1889. He is best known for his works The Woman in White (1859), a mystery and early "sensation novel," and The Moonstone (1868), which has been dubbed the first modern English detective fiction. When he was twelve, he traveled to Italy with his parents, painters William Collins and Harriet Geddes, where they lived for two years while he learned both Italian and French. He began his career selling tea. Following the publication of Antonina, his debut book, in 1850, Collins became friends with and a mentor to Charles Dickens. Dickens' journals All the Year Round and Household Words published some of his writing. They also worked together on fiction and drama. By the 1860s, Collins had achieved financial security and a large following worldwide. However, he developed an opium addiction, which caused him to lose both his health and the caliber of his work in the 1870s and 1880s. Collins criticized the institution of marriage. He divided his time between younger Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children, and widow Caroline Graves, with whom he lived for the majority of his life and treated her daughter as his.
