Wilkie Collins

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Matthew Sweet.

The Woman in White

The first and greatest of the bestselling Victorian thrillers known as 'sensation novels', The Woman in White opens with a chilling encounter between drawing teacher Walter Hartright and a ghostly female figure on a moonlit road. From this moment Walter is drawn into a terrifying world of intrigue, crime, disguise and insanity, as he tries to save his beautiful pupil Laura from the sinister plans of Sir Percival Glyde and the 'Napoleon of Crime', Count Fosco, in one of the most gripping plots in English fiction.

Jemima Scott

It is the grand misfortune of my life that nobody will let me alone.

Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and our peace - they drag us away from our parents' love and our sisters' friendship - they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel.

My heart could take her no closer to me, or I should have loved her then as I had never loved her yet.

This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve.

Phoebe

'I have heard,' she said, 'and I believe it, that the fondest and truest of all affections is the affection which a woman ought to bear to her husband. When our engagement began, that affection was mine to give, if I could, and yours to win, if you could. Will you pardon me, and spare me, Sir Percival, if I acknowledge that it is not so any longer?'

What did Mrs Versey do to deserve this </3

Nature has so much to do in this world, and is engaged in generating such a vast variety of co-existent productions, that she must surely be now and then too flurried and confused to distinguish between the different processes that she is carrying on at the same time. Starting from this point of view, it will always remain my private persuasion that Nature was absorbed in making cabbages when Mrs Versey was born, and that the good lady suffered the consequences of a vegetable preoccupation in the mind of the Mother of us all.

Sarah Sammis

I've not had a very successful run of book reading recently. I suppose after having so many page turners in a row, I was bound to hit some books that didn't entertain me or engage me. The Woman in White, a novel beloved my many, didn't do much for me. In fact, it earns its placement in a very short list of novels I haven't been inspired to finish reading.

The Woman in White with its epistolary narrative is reminiscent of Bleak House (1852) and shares many of the same flaws. Both are too long, have too many conflicting view points and too many inconsistencies to the plot. These similarities make sense given Collins friendship with Dickens and the fact that the book was originally serialized in Dickens's All Year Round magazine.

Matthew Sweet

The mysterious appearance of a woman dressed in white leads to the discovery of a complicated plot involving a stolen inheritance and an escape from a mental institution.

Erin Darlyn

I absolutely loved this book. It is one of the best novels I have ever read and I have handed it off to the next reader already knowing that I should like to read it again one day. 

I loved the way the author used various narrators rather than one to unveil the intricacies of the whole story. I loved that he kept me guessing the whole time and that I was actually able to experience the thrill of not knowing what was going to happen (a rare treat for me). It was difficult to put the book down! I kept wanting to read just another section (and another, and another…). 

The characters were each brilliant; the storytelling exceptional. Uncle Fairlie was my favorite. His account made me laugh aloud as I read. 

I highly recommend this story. I have already picked up a second work by Wilkie Collins and am looking forward to diving into it.

Colleen

5 Stars

*An eerie and compelling tale of a chance meeting that changes several people’s lives*


The Woman in White is an intimidating doorstop of a book that I've been meaning to read for years but kept pushing down my list. I was afraid this would be one of those classics that's over-hyped or hasn't aged well. I read my first Collins last year but decided to start with one of his much shorter works The Haunted Hotel. I liked it well enough but still didn’t feel inspired to take on The Woman in White.

But with all this quarantine / self-isolation, I decided to stop making excuses and knock out some of these books that I've been procrastinating about reading!

Having finally read The Woman in White, I feel confident in saying that this book does live up to the hype, is worth the lengthy pages, and is still worth reading well over a century later. No wonder Collins favored this book over all his others! 


  “I say what other people only think, and when all the rest of the world is in a conspiracy to accept the mask for the true face, mine is the rash hand that tears off the plump pasteboard, and shows the bare bones beneath.”

Walter Hartright was walking home one night when he came across a mysterious woman in white. That moment set off a chain of events that would change his life forever. 

The story is slow and meandering. The format is narrated by multiple people involved in the incidents each relaying their portion of the events. The story has such big scope although the plot is deceptively simple. The narratives drop subtle and engaging foreshadowing, but there are plenty of surprises in store.

The strongpoint of this book is the excellent characterization. Despite having so many narrators, everyone had such distinct voices. This is one of the best examples of multiple narrators which unique voices that I’ve ever read. Between the star-crossed lovers troupe and the wilting daisy female characters, I should have been rolling my eyes the whole way through. On the surface, this story sounds like it should be agnsty, shallow, and drama filled. Yet it feels so compelling rather than off-putting. 

“It was cold and barren. It was no longer the view that I remembered. The sunshine of her presence was far from me. The charm of her voice no longer murmured in my ear.” 
One can easily see how many modern books have tried to emulate The Woman in White (and to varying degrees of success). Multiple first person narrators usually blend together. It is such a risky format to have all of those characters piecing together a narrative to recap events that already happened. But Collins found the perfect balance masterfully parsing out tidbits of information at just the right rate to keep me captivated.

The other thing I will note is that this was originally published in periodical form. But the author revised it himself when it was converted to novel form, so the story flows seamlessly rather than feeling chopped up. 

It's a long story. And if I were to list out the plot points, there really aren't that many. Especially considering the length of the book. Yet somehow, this story never felt slow or dull. I was so enraptured by the story from cover to cover. The writing is hypnotic, the characters were compelling, and the story is engaging. It all wraps up into one exceptional package! Despite being almost seven-hundred pages long, I was not bored a single minute while reading The Woman in White.


  “Darker and darker, he said; farther and farther yet. Death takes the good, the beautiful, and the young - and spares me. The Pestilence that wastes, the Arrow that strikes, the Sea that drowns, the Grave the closes over Love and Hope, are steps of my journey, and take me nearer and nearer to the End.”

I won't give away anything about the plot. This is definitely a story that is more enjoyable to go into blind. But I will say that it kept me guessing! The slow-burn suspense was so expertly done. This story of Gothic suspense is definitely worth its place in literary history.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

Irene Alegre

Oh God. Too long. Way too long. 200 pages would have sufficed. The writing isn't that great either – that was not Collins' forte, in my opinion. Which means I expected the plot to be really good. 

And I read the whole thing, because I always worry that I will be missing out on something if I don't finish a book. Alas, life's too short to read bad novels.

Sarah Escorsa

This is the first time I read a book by Wilkie Collins and found it quite enjoyable. I really liked the plot, cast of characters and intrigue (which reminded me a lot of Conan Doyle) and would have given the book 4 stars had it not been for its length. At times the book does feel like it will never end as Collins drags on and on. A shame really, as I particularly enjoyed the way he structured the book, with different characters telling different parts of the story. 

Still, I look forward to reading other books by Collins.

La dama de blanco

Maribel González

Estoy entre darle un 3 o un 3'5... Me han gustado la historia y los personajes, todos con una personalidad muy definidos. Y tiene plot twists muy interesantes. Pero hay partes que se me han hecho muy pesadas y, por tanto, a veces veía el final muuuuy lejano. Voy a meditar y cuando haga reseña me decido.

P.D.: Walter, cómo molas! Jaja

Jade Flynn

The Woman in White was always going to be my cup of tea, it blends two of my favourite things; a classic Victorian gothic mystery with a page count over 600. Not once did it bore me and not once did I want it to end just like The Moonstone. Forgery, identity theft, insanity, politics and freedom are just some of the themes Wilkie incorporates into this mammoth. Paired with endearing heroes and loathsome villains, it's a enrapturing experience.

Caitlyn Johanna Bolton 

Absolutely fantastic! The first psychological thriller I read and was really surprised that I was gripped by it so much. Collins is an amazing writer and I can't wait to read his other stuff. Perfect starter novel for Collins but also classics.

Amber Laha

The Woman in White was not exactly the story that I thought it was going to be, it actually was more than a mystery. It was also a romance which was subtly told and was not the focal point, but the goal in the end for these two people to have ultimate happiness with one another. I enjoyed the writing for the most part, for as it is a classic I thought it would be hard to wrap my mind around the language of that time, but I thought that he told rather than showed more often than not. This telling you certain things about the narrative and how things were going to happen could have annoyed me to no end and may have lessened my opinion of the book on a whole, but for this book it actually held me and interested me more in the book. The fact that there was a good reason, which was that this kind of narrative was new for that time, helped me to be more understanding towards it. 
The book also was told in multiple perspectives, which I very much appreciated and liked overall, but I felt that having Fosco’s perspective at the end was unnecessary, considering everything he said pretty much was told and shown through the story beforehand. The story was intricate and was woven in a way that kept you guessing, and not until the very end did you know every little thing and all the connections that made up this mystery. I loved that it wasn’t predictable in any way, other than the fact that I knew pretty much who was the bad guys. Although, I think Collins wasn’t trying to hide that fact. Actually, I felt he was doing it purposely. Towards the end of the story I did feel myself getting anxious for the end and because I felt that the author was repetitive in certain narratives, I felt able and willing to skip read through parts. This is a slowly told story, driving towards the end revelation, and making you go crazy with the questions and doubts. 
Fosco, who at turns made me think he was bad and good, was pure evil and the fact that he made me doubt my own mind was amazingly well played by the author. Percival’s character, on the other hand, was shown very clearly pretty quickly in the story and that was just because Percival was always like that. He was quick to anger and expression of his emotion, and the only one who could control him was Fosco, which added to the mystery. 
Another point in this book, is the fantastical side of it. There were times when I felt...is this real or is this a ghost, a vision, etc.? This part really added to the story and drove it forward. 
I felt that Collins was also making a commentary on how women were treated and how they had to deal with the situation of a very male dominated society, where women’s rights were not held high in importance in general. You could see that Collins himself went back and forth with this argument in feminism. There were times when I thought he agreed with women’s rights, but then other times when he made them out as weak and dependent on a man’s “strength”. But he made this commentary with making sure that there were both feminine and male traits on both sides of the sexes. It was interesting to see how he showed the society and the negatives and positives(possibly) of the way a woman’s life was like in the Victorian era.

I enjoyed it immensely, even though there were faults and he could have cut parts down to keep the repetitiveness from showing, and I really enjoyed the commentary he placed through the characters and the story itself. 

I’d recommend this to anyone who has been reading classics for a while and is familiar with it and who likes a great mystery.

Marie Rogowski

Yes, this book takes a while to read. But its well worth it. Collins has hereby created a story full of interesting characters and a great mystery. Strongly recommend it to anyone who has the endurance for such a long book

Elene

Candelaria neyra

Fucking adored the characters and the story had some great suspense. Although the plot twists didn't cause any reaction in me, they were well written and unexpected.

Natalie

Phenomenal mystery! Loved this writing style. Cool tidbit that Wilkie Collins was a friend and contemporary of Charles Dickens!

Jana Pashovska

I can whole-heartedly say that is one of the most beautifully written books I have encountered in a long time.

Being already a huge fan of Wilkie Collins as a result of my having read and extremely enjoyed his 'Moonstone' and thus being familiriazied with his style of writing, and being all-in-all an enormous fan of 19th century literature, I entered the world of this book being ready to be swept of my feet and believe me when I say, I have not been disappointed in any way whatsoever.

The very essence of the plot is so ingeniously presented, the words so carefully and thoughtfully chosen and charmingly woven that from start to finish, this book flows perfectly before the eyes of the reader. The characters develop so naturally throughout the course of the novel, that not one of them seems forcefully put just to fill out pages, and thus they appeal to the sentiments of the reader as well as to the rational mind. There is no stone unturned and everything that needs explaining is masterfully explained. 

I would most certainly give this novel the epithet 'masterpiece' and would recommend anyone who enjoys mystery, suspense, romanticism and overall, a prevailing Gothic atmosphere, to give this book a go and not to be intimidated by the number of pages nor by Wilkie's style of writing in narratives.

Faith Simmons

I went into this book with super high expectations, and although it was a very enjoyable book, it did not completely live up to what I was hoping for. To be fair, this is mostly my fault, as I should not have entered this book with so many preconceived notions about its contents. What I thought was going to be a spooky ghost story turned out to be mystery novel mostly revolving around this problems of the 19th century's upper class. That being said, one part of this book that I particularly loved was its main character, Marian. I found her to be such a refreshing change from how women are typically portrayed in Victorian literature, and I loved following her courage and strength throughout the story. Another thing I enjoyed about this book was the split narration between characters. This kept the plot more "fresh" and also allowed more insight into the events that I would've missed otherwise. This book is a long one, at over 600 pages, but I honestly feel that it could've been closer to 400. Many time I encountered a section of the novel that I felt could've been condensed, while still maintaining Collins' style and vital information to the plot. I would really like to reread this book one day when I can go in with no expectations and increase my focus (I read most of this book in the car with movies playing in the background), as I personally feel that it deserves another chance from me. I still enjoyed it, to be clear, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good Victorian mystery!

Janet Doré

Similar in feel to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, this was a great classic mystery. Keep all in my book club on the edge of their couches.

The Woman in White

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