Victorian-era novelist Wilkie Collins was one of the most popular and successful writers of his day, ranked by some as equal in influence and acclaim to his friend and mentor Charles Dickens. Like Dickens, Collins' novels take a hard look at the social problems of the period in the context of an engaging, often addictively paced, narrative. Fallen Leaves recounts the lives of four women, each of whom has chosen a distinct path but whose fortunes are inextricably linked.