Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is the great master of intrigue and pioneer of the detective novel. He proves it again in Heart and Science, where he combines a romantic plot with the question of the limits of science, specifically the vivisection of animals, a subject much debated when he wrote this text, which he considered one of the best of his wide-ranging production.
Ovid Vere, a young London doctor, falls in love with his cousin Carmina (an orphan with an Italian mother), whose guardian is Ovid's mother, a perverse woman, who opposes the relationship and wants at all costs to get Carmina's inheritance, in order to maintain his lifestyle and his passion for science. In this determination she will be supported by other characters as dastardly as she is.
The contrast is offered by the generous and supportive behavior of other characters who support Ovid and Carmina. There is no lack of ironic comments on the customs of the time. A good novel for the summer.