--- product_id: 4751862 title: "The Collector (Back Bay Books)" price: "£12.95" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/4751862-the-collector-back-bay-books store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # The Collector (Back Bay Books) **Price:** £12.95 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Collector (Back Bay Books) - **How much does it cost?** £12.95 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/4751862-the-collector-back-bay-books) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The Collector (Back Bay Books) [Fowles, John] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Collector (Back Bay Books) Review: The Collector: A Psychological Masterpiece With a Commentary on Class Culture - The Collector is a novel by British writer John Fowles. It tells the story of Ferdinand Clegg, a civil servant who lives with his aunt and cousin. When he wins a football pool, he buys a home in a secluded rural location in England, and realizes his desire to meet young art student Miranda. While his aunt and cousin are in Australia visiting relatives, Ferdinand, an avid butterfly collector, adds another beautiful specimen to his collection--by kidnapping Miranda and taking her to his 17th century house. There he will keep her, feed her, battle with her, and finally lose her. The story is cleverly told in three parts. First, we are told the story from Ferdinand's point of view, in retrospect, through paraphrased conversations. In the second part, we read Miranda's diary and discover many things about her personal life, including loves, her feelings about art, relationships and her politics. Finally, we return to Ferdinand, who adds more insight into his relationship with Miranda--its tensions and occasional swings to civility on the young artist's part. The Collector is not just a psychological tale, although that is the overlying characteristic Fowles puts forth through it. It also addresses the clash between classes, through Ferdinand's obstinance and Miranda's frustration--and occasional snobbery towards her captor, whom she nickname's Caliban after the misshapen character from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Furthermore, while we are at times horrified at what Ferdinand ultimately puts Miranda through--the confinement, the forced erotic photos she becomes the subject of, we also find that Miranda too can be cruel and ultimately condescending to Ferdinand. Herein lies the novel's brilliance: a kidnapping and tragedy, but also a multi-dimensional look at the complexity of the human condition and also class divisions--which were a stinging indictment of Britain's social failings at the time. The Collector is an engaging read--at times sensitive and yet ultimately disturbing, but certainly thought-provoking. In so many ways Ferdinand does not seem to be such a horrible man, yet his actions are clearly shocking, and the results simply sad. Having lost his beloved Miranda, he then sets his sights on another young woman. That story remains untold, but clearly adds a bit of a chill to the conclusion. Made into a film in 1965, The Collector remains a great read, even though much of depth of the text is left out by director William Wyler, whose otherwise competent work makes it more than watchable. Still, as always, it's the book that really deserves primary attention, and it works wonderfully on so many levels. For fans of this sort of thickly layered British novel, The Collector is highly recommended. Review: Psychological Thriller - 'The Collector' is about a socially awkward and insecure loner who collects butterflies. He also watches a young college student and becomes fascinated by her. Eventually he abducts her and keeps her locked in his basement. What I found interesting is that the author is VERY good at hinting at The Collector's mental abnormalities. For instance: The Collector sets up the basement to 'pretend' what it would be like if the college student did live down there. (No one having a fantasy is going to build an entire prison cell and go out and spend a lot of money to furnish it - unless he is serious about making that fantasy a reality Yet the character does not even believe that he will actually go through with it). He sits in a van watching her, with chloroform in his pocket, but thinks to himself that he has no plan to actually abduct the girl. The Collector says he 'has' to do things' or that he 'had' to do things; this demonstrates his sickness because there is no need for someone to 'have to' abduct a young woman. He's old-fashioned in some ways and a sadist in others, but he truly believes he is a good person with high morals. The irony! The book has four chapters - alternately narrated by the Collector and then in journal/diary form by his prisoner, Miranda. I found that the chapters narrated by The Collector were fascinating in a disturbing sort of way. The ones narrated by her were drawn out and seem to have a lot of impertinent information - until you realize that the act of journaling is her escape from reality & that she will think and write about anything and anyone to pass the time; then it is brilliant. This was an interesting read, a classic psychological thriller with an ending even more worrisome that the plot itself. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #65,643 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,605 in Classic Literature & Fiction #3,136 in Psychological Thrillers (Books) #4,893 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.0 out of 5 stars 4,029 Reviews | ## Images ![The Collector (Back Bay Books) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/816RFizQzNL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Collector: A Psychological Masterpiece With a Commentary on Class Culture *by T***N on October 9, 2012* The Collector is a novel by British writer John Fowles. It tells the story of Ferdinand Clegg, a civil servant who lives with his aunt and cousin. When he wins a football pool, he buys a home in a secluded rural location in England, and realizes his desire to meet young art student Miranda. While his aunt and cousin are in Australia visiting relatives, Ferdinand, an avid butterfly collector, adds another beautiful specimen to his collection--by kidnapping Miranda and taking her to his 17th century house. There he will keep her, feed her, battle with her, and finally lose her. The story is cleverly told in three parts. First, we are told the story from Ferdinand's point of view, in retrospect, through paraphrased conversations. In the second part, we read Miranda's diary and discover many things about her personal life, including loves, her feelings about art, relationships and her politics. Finally, we return to Ferdinand, who adds more insight into his relationship with Miranda--its tensions and occasional swings to civility on the young artist's part. The Collector is not just a psychological tale, although that is the overlying characteristic Fowles puts forth through it. It also addresses the clash between classes, through Ferdinand's obstinance and Miranda's frustration--and occasional snobbery towards her captor, whom she nickname's Caliban after the misshapen character from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Furthermore, while we are at times horrified at what Ferdinand ultimately puts Miranda through--the confinement, the forced erotic photos she becomes the subject of, we also find that Miranda too can be cruel and ultimately condescending to Ferdinand. Herein lies the novel's brilliance: a kidnapping and tragedy, but also a multi-dimensional look at the complexity of the human condition and also class divisions--which were a stinging indictment of Britain's social failings at the time. The Collector is an engaging read--at times sensitive and yet ultimately disturbing, but certainly thought-provoking. In so many ways Ferdinand does not seem to be such a horrible man, yet his actions are clearly shocking, and the results simply sad. Having lost his beloved Miranda, he then sets his sights on another young woman. That story remains untold, but clearly adds a bit of a chill to the conclusion. Made into a film in 1965, The Collector remains a great read, even though much of depth of the text is left out by director William Wyler, whose otherwise competent work makes it more than watchable. Still, as always, it's the book that really deserves primary attention, and it works wonderfully on so many levels. For fans of this sort of thickly layered British novel, The Collector is highly recommended. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Psychological Thriller *by S***S on November 7, 2016* 'The Collector' is about a socially awkward and insecure loner who collects butterflies. He also watches a young college student and becomes fascinated by her. Eventually he abducts her and keeps her locked in his basement. What I found interesting is that the author is VERY good at hinting at The Collector's mental abnormalities. For instance: The Collector sets up the basement to 'pretend' what it would be like if the college student did live down there. (No one having a fantasy is going to build an entire prison cell and go out and spend a lot of money to furnish it - unless he is serious about making that fantasy a reality Yet the character does not even believe that he will actually go through with it). He sits in a van watching her, with chloroform in his pocket, but thinks to himself that he has no plan to actually abduct the girl. The Collector says he 'has' to do things' or that he 'had' to do things; this demonstrates his sickness because there is no need for someone to 'have to' abduct a young woman. He's old-fashioned in some ways and a sadist in others, but he truly believes he is a good person with high morals. The irony! The book has four chapters - alternately narrated by the Collector and then in journal/diary form by his prisoner, Miranda. I found that the chapters narrated by The Collector were fascinating in a disturbing sort of way. The ones narrated by her were drawn out and seem to have a lot of impertinent information - until you realize that the act of journaling is her escape from reality & that she will think and write about anything and anyone to pass the time; then it is brilliant. This was an interesting read, a classic psychological thriller with an ending even more worrisome that the plot itself. ### ⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating themes, unlikable characters *by R***G on September 10, 2017* A rather horrifying story that I found both intriguing and boring. This book follows the story of a young man named Frederick who becomes obsessed with an art student named Miranda and decides to kidnap her in hopes that she would end up falling in love with him. I loved all of the themes in books and I enjoyed how this was written in two different perspectives, which I was not expecting. As I was reading Frederick’s POV, I was immediately reminded of many men that I have encountered in my life, which is a rather frightening prospective. His way of thinking is vile and deplorable in a way that isn’t obscene. His perspective is like looking into the mind of someone who victim blames and harms other people, but finds no fault in his actions because “she asked for it, there was nothing else I could do.”. In reading his thoughts, I felt that this was a book that all people should read, so that as a society, we can understand the depravities of humankind. However, I realized that many people who are similar to Frederick may see his point of view as validation of their actions and feel that they are more in the right than ever before. I really liked how this narrative was written in a sort of stream of consciousness style, in which his dialogue is never put into quotations, make it difficult to separate his inner thoughts from what he speaks out loud. I also liked that his narrative wasn't entirely linear and he skips around based on where his conversational narrative leads him to remember. His way of speaking reminded me a lot of the main character of Lolita where is recalling this situation from the past leading up the present, which made me interested to see what it was going to lead to. After discovering that we also get Miranda’s point of view in journal entries, I was very excited to see how she felt on her side. However, I quickly found that I was bored of her perspective as a lot of it was on her life prior to the kidnapping and her own views on society and politics. I understand that her narrative is used to show her personality and expands it beyond frighted-girl-kept-in-captivity and it did work. However, I really did not like her as a person and found her to be extremely hypocritical and judgmental. I did enjoyed looking back and forth between their two perspectives regarding the same events and how differently they viewed it. However, I did feel that Miranda was very similar to Frederick in ways that she could not possibly have understood due to her dislike for him. When reading Frederick’s’ POV, I definitely felt sorry for her, but while reading her perspective, I felt that she was rather naive in a way where she doesn’t know that she is naive. The most interesting aspect to me was their own preconceived ideas on how to approach the other and who the other person was. Due to this, they never fully understood the other person and tried to humor the other person based on what they believed the other person wanted or how they felt the other person would be placated. The ending was the most gripping and horrifying part of the whole book, and more like what I wish the whole book was like. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Collector (Back Bay Books) - White Nights - The Stranger --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/4751862-the-collector-back-bay-books](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/4751862-the-collector-back-bay-books) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-06-01*