The Woman in White

NOTE: To stay in line with the style and nature of Victorian literature, please be warned that this review will make subtle attempts to mimic elements of the Victorian period to illustrate some of the impressions received during my reading of The Woman in White.Even though I graduated with a degree in English, I had never read anything by Wilkie Collins either as part of curriculum or through my pleasure reading. I had heard his name from time to time and knew generally of (his arguably) most well-known work The Moonstone, largely because of its fame as being the first English detective novel. I had also heard of The Woman in White but new nothing more than its name. As far as his other works, I was completely ignorant. I suspect his oversight in the English curriculum is due largely to the eclipse caused by Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters who dominate the studies of the Victorian period. Indeed, Collins himself was a fan of his contemporary author friend Dickens and it seems the two even worked together from time to time.Those familiar with the Victorian period won't be surprised by the length of The Woman in White nor by the denseness of the writing. I remember stories about the authors of the 1800s intentionally stretching out their vocabularies to earn more money due to being paid by the word or by the page in their serialized stories. While there is some truth to that, it should also be remembered that the companies publishing the stories also wanted to make money so they weren't just going to push out 500 pages of verbose drivel without making sure it was coherent, engaging and marketable. As a reader, especially in the 21st century with our short attention span and our desire for quick flashy bite-sized reads, it's easy to get bogged down in lengthy scenes with intricate details and descriptions along with thoughtful, methodical and often minute actions and progress. All discussion aside about my delay in becoming acquainted with Collins and in the nature of Victorian literature, I transition now to impressions about this novel in particular. As I began my reading, I had no clear expectations for the plot or characters in this book other than knowledge of the title character. I speculated that perhaps there may be gothic elements and that the Woman may turn out to be a ghostly apparition or otherwise influenced by supernatural means. That theory was quickly destroyed but was replaced by a concept that still left more questions unanswered. We walk the streets of London with Walter Hartright late one night and encounter the titular Woman in White. In his own words, seeing her brought his blood "to a stop." He was entranced, not necessarily by her beauty but by her mysterious and strange appearance. He briefly accompanies her and provides words of friendship and compassion while trying to unravel the mystery of her appearance and person. When she hurries on her way he is left wondering about her. Moments later he is more confused when confronted by men pursuing her as an escapee from an asylum. For reasons unknown, he guards her secret and lets the men continue on ignorant of her location but Walter is left contemplating ore on the Woman in White.The book is written in a series of narratives, each from a different author. Hartright serves as a principle protagonist and acts as the one compiling the various narrative elements into a chronological tale. The narratives try to explicitly avoid exposing plot elements before they are chronologically relevant. For some of the narratives, their tales are written "in the moment" as sorts of journals or testimonies of recent events and as such they contain no foreshadowing. Other narrators, especially Hartright, tell their stories already knowing future events and as such their words sometimes drop hints of foreshadowing. Early in the story, the foreshadowing is either completely glossed over or just gives the reader more questions since the reader doesn't yet have all relevant information. Later in the story, some of the foreshadowed phrases are based on imperfect knowledge of the character and thus provide imperfect hints to the reader. In both cases I found this a fun and intriguing way to unravel a mystery while keeping it mysterious a little longer.The plot reveals itself slowly and methodically like the petals of a flower slowly unfolding from a spring bud to an elegant and glorious bloom. Initially we are given a gothic feeling mystery of the identity of the Woman in White. Then we are presented what seems to be a standard story of workaday life in Victorian England. Next, we move into a balance between commentary on British aristocracy and a seemingly standard Victorian love story. The story twists into a psychological tug-of-war between characters attempting to keep up the most civil outward appearances while also trying to undermine and destroy the lives of other characters. Each newly exposed element adds new beauty as well as new questions each element that came before. For the first many chapters, we follow the narrative of Walter Hartright. We begin in London with his strange encounter with the Woman in White and then follow him as he takes employment at a wealthy home in the country. There he teaches art to a pair of young women. Without spoiling too much of the plot, a romance is kindled but a love triangle is exposed and the lovers are forced to keep their love hidden and separate. For the next many pages, the narrative is picked up my one of the young women, Marian Halcombe before being handed back to Hartright for the conclusion. Scattered throughout the novel are small narrative sections by both minor and major characters. I found the narrative styles of Walter and Marian to be very similar yet with very subtle differences that helped establish their own unique voices. The narratives of the minor characters were somewhat generic in feel partly due to their comparative brevity. Late in the novel we have a (comparatively) "brief" narrative by Count Fosco who has one of the more unique voices of the whole story. Overall the narrative style was entertaining and engaging. Despite having multiple distinct narrators, the story maintained a cohesive feeling and tone that allowed the reader to comfortably navigate the pages without jarring transitions between narrators in spite of their unique voices.The main characters, and even many of the minor characters, are well developed and a lot of fun. While many of their traits are somewhat stereotypical for the era their motivations and actions are engaging and delightful. Hartright is the virtuous and persistent hero you would expect in a story like this. Full of vigor and courage he is often able to thoughtfully work through tricky situations but he still makes some foolish and impulsive decisions. Marian Halcombe is, in many ways, the female version of Hartright. Had the novel been written a few centuries later, it's entirely possible that she would have been even more central to the plot than she already is. As it stands, she is responsible for much of the forward movement of the plot and unraveling of many mysteries. The ideals of the Victorian era seem to have stayed Collins' hand and kept her from taking the forefront in even more of the adventure but she is a courageous and strong character and justifiably earns the admiration of the colorful villain in the story. Count Fosco is probably the most distinct of the characters with his flamboyant mannerisms, voice and motivations. Each of his interactions are both a lot of fun to read and strangely confusing to ponder over and try to discern. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot. Even if I wanted to outline the entire plot, it would be difficult to do so quickly and concisely due to the many multiple layers and intricate relations. At its heart, this is a love story that shows the lengths that people will go to help the people they love. Working outward it becomes a story about appearances and expectations particularly with regards to social status. Twisted into the plot are additional stories of love, deception and even political intrigue.Overall this novel is amazing in all that it accomplished and the depth and elegance in which it does so. Even with its hefty 500+ page count, the writing is efficient and tight especially considering everything it delivers. Readers will come away from the book with memories of rich characters, a well-developed mystery and a satisfying conclusion. It may not be Dickens or Bronte, but The Woman in White deserves praise and is a Victorian novel well worth reading. Great fun and definitely recommended.*****4.5 out of 5 stars

I come to this book having already having read Wilkie Collins's novel The Moonstone. Because of this, I found his use of multiple narrators repetitive and not as well done, which is admittedly unfair as The Moonstone is a later novel and reflects his greater experience with the technique (not to mention what I thought was a more natural explanation for the employment of the multiple retrospective accounts). Still, I found The Woman in White inferior in other respects as well; the central mystery was less engaging and the lack of a protagonist on the level of Sgt. Cuff telling (the character best suited to play this role, Marian, is effectively put in a position where she has to rely on the far less interesting Hartright to resolve their problems). Though it would have been to the earlier novel's credit to have read it first, but then I don't know if I would have been as motivated to read The Moonstone afterward.

Reading all of this might leave you with the impression that I didn't like the novel, which is far from the truth; I found it to be enjoyably written, with sympathetic characters and a plot that kept me engaged to the final page. I'm glad to have read it, and will probably return to it in the future. That being said, though, I would recommend readers interested in exploring Collins's works to begin with The Moonstone which is a leaner and more interesting work than this one.

This book is a Victorian "mystery" told by multiple narrators. It is a great read, albeit long. 1005 pages

My rating of this classic Victorian mystery novel varied as I slogged through it. The first 50 pages seemed excruciatingly slow and mawkishly written, even by Victorian standards. But my interest revved up as the story proceeded and most of the way I was eagerly turning the pages, extremely engaged and empathizing with the characters, especially the "most interesting" Miss Halcombe (I confess a profound weakness for intelligent and selfless women.)

The last fifth of the novel seem anticlimactic though, with a deus ex machina plot solution that seemed an overgenerous gift of the storyteller to his beleaguered characters.

On page 400 or so I probably would have given this 4 or even 5 stars, but because of these weaknesses, on sum I give it 3.

This was an enjoyable read and would have most probably have got a better rating if it wasn't for how long winded it was.

This was a surprisingly engaging novel. I did not think, due to the style, that I would enjoy it at first-- but I was proven wrong time and time again. There is much to like here and much to learn. Collins is a skillful writer that carries you along the story-line like helping someone cross the street. The plot is always engaging and that is rarely, if at all, a moment wasted in the expanse of the plot-line. The characters are flawed, but likeable. The setting is pivotal and not overwrought by any effusions of "purple prose." All in all, this was a great book and it will not be my last selection from Collins-- who I had never heard of previous to picking this up at random from my local college library. A big thumbs up. Well done, Mr. Collins.

Good old-fashioned story-telling at its best! Though the British insistence on class distinctions and the characterization of women are often maddening, the strong narrative and compelling mystery at the center of this novel easily overcome these annoyances. Collins had a wide-ranging influence on his contemporary authors, and his work deserves to be more widely read today.

This epic tale of women abused by society because they had no legal rights is the story that led to changes in British law. This story awakened the women's rights movement in England.

A classic of its kind, and I suppose worth reading for that reason. Gothic mystery. Very long and wordy, in the style of the time.

I was a bit disappointed by The Woman in White after all I had heard about it. I much prefer The Moonstone.

This book was an excellent read despite its age. The writing style was very appealing and forthright and quite amusing in places. I liked the way the narrative swapped between those involved. There were many interesting twists and turns and my only disappointment was that the "secret" wasn't that big a deal (but perhaps in its time it was)

A long book but well worth it. As things evolve you end up with multiple mysteries which are solved one by one though all interconnect.If I'd been a woman of the period, the book would have given me chills. It's easy to forget how little recourse women had in those days, especially if they had no family to speak of. And sometimes even then.Mr. Collins does a marvelous job giving different voices to each of those who turned in accounts on the mystery.

I'd heard good things about this book for years and now I've read it I know exactly why it's never been out of print; it's a superb, ground-breaking work. Like any novel written 150 years ago, it takes some getting used to; the writing style, the characterizations, the plot points themselves, but once you acclimate, this novel is truly a thriller worth reading. And it is a taut work despite its length. There is always something going on and the little hints and contradictions between accounts from each narrator keep you engaged.I admit that it was hard sometimes to keep my 21st century sensibilities to myself. Honestly, I couldn't see what was so attractive about Laura that kept Marian and Walter her devoted slaves. I guess being a limpid, fainting female so compliant as to have no personality of her own was the epitome of female attractions back then. Maybe both Walter and Marian just needed someone to mother, protect and control to feel like they had any value in life. The lengths they went to keep Laura completely sheltered from any whiff of reality was absurd to me and a few times I wanted to smack all three of them. But only a few times. Overall, Collins did a good job of reaching through the decades and making me feel sympathy for Laura and her plight. Then again, she was so insensible to most of it that there wasn't a lot to feel sorry for. I mean, doesn't a person have to feel the pain of her situation before anyone else can feel bad about it? Of all the players involved, we never hear from her directly so can't get a good grip on what this whole experience did to her. She was so thoroughly insulated that it probably wasn't much, like a bird that has its cage changed from one to another doesn't comprehend what's been done. I felt slightly insulted by this treatment on Laura's behalf. Hell, at least she didn't whine, I guess that's something.As far as characters went, this novel is loaded with outstanding examples. First of all the villains; Count Fosco and Sir Glyde were deliciously wicked and underhanded. Fosco is the orchestrator of all their shenanigans and must leash his friend's more overt and violent impulses. I never did understand what bound the two together in the first place, maybe just a mutual interest in decadent living and swindling folks to acquire it. Glyde's initial scam in claiming an inheritance that didn't belong to him might have been planned by Fosco himself since he seems to have gained his titles the same way, but we don't really know. Glyde is vicious, but not in the same way Fosco is vicious. Fosco maintains an air of moral superiority that is downright nauseating. And his slave wife is the same way. I wished a worse end on both of them than they received, but perhaps Collins felt he needed to pull his punch to keep his readers from having an attack of the vapors. Glyde's end, though horrifying in the extreme, lacks personalization and therefore is somewhat unsatisfying as well.Another character I quite loved was Uncle Fairlie. What a righteous old queen he was. His fussing, flightiness and willful obstinacy was a wonder to behold. Yeah, he was annoying, but provided a much needed uplift to the grinding dread and tension of the novel. It was also great to see how easily manipulated he was by everyone who came in contact with him. I did feel sorry for his valet, though. Leaving the estate to the kid in the end was a bit of a stretch given the fact that he was so uncaring about inheritance in the past. I mean, he knew that Laura's marriage settlement was a screwed up thing, but didn't care, so why should he care about some brat he'd never seen? I can't picture him bothering. It is out of character.And Marian is a mystery to me as well. Sure, Walter is smitten by a pretty, empty-headed girl as men have been for all of time and can't help slaving away over Laura, but what of Marian? Despite her outward appearance of self-assurance, she must really feel she has no chance of marriage. Or maybe the state doesn't appeal to her independent demeanor. I never got a handle on why she's content to be unofficial nanny and governess for the rest of her life. Surely if Count Fosco could find her fascinating other men could as well. Marian is a mystery to me that endures even more than Anne Catherick herself.Anne is another helpless female who engenders unchecked devotion and sacrifice by a relative stranger; a popular motif in 19th century literature. Basically cast out by her mother, Anne is repeatedly told that she's weak-minded and stupid and thus becomes those things. She's manipulated and controlled by everyone around her. When she accidentally appears to have purpose, the asylum is the best way to get rid of her inconvenient presence. Mom and Glyde can sigh with relief. I had more sympathy for Anne than for Laura because Anne seems to have known how ill-treated and manipulated she was and at least tried to get out from under. I'm glad they let her stay in her burial plot next to the only person she felt had any love for her.The plot is stunning, revealed tactically and really pulled me along through the story. A conspiracy so foul and amoral that it was staggering even in this day of heinous crime TV. To deliberately go through life making one's way by cheating, lying and stealing is pretty startling when presented so baldly. And it seems that neither Glyde nor Fosco had any real obstacles along their nefarious way. The way the scheme is revealed, first by its fact then by its repercussions is a neat device. Having each player tell his or her own piece was effective as well since not all of them knew everything everyone else knew. I liked, for example, the heated indignation of the family lawyer (I forget his name) in the face of Laura's unjust marriage settlement; he only knew the events surrounding this, but it was fascinating all the same and made the heroes seem less friendless. I also liked the housekeeper's testimony; her warped view of Fosco was wonderful and showed exactly what a crafty actor he was and how much the veneer of titles and position affected the opinions of the lower classes. Everyone seemed to be more trusting than they are now and so it's no wonder that people were taken in and conspiracies like these actually worked…at least in fiction.

Stirring stuff from Wilkie Collins. Plenty of mystery and suspense. Wonderful characters, both charming and horrific. My heart was in my mouth at times as I read about the cruelty humans can enact on one another in the pursuit of money. It was always believable, never hysterical or florid, and even minor characters were well imagined. A classic for good reason.

Enjoyable, though flawed, book which a greatly enjoyed reading. There are some excellent reviws on this site already so I'll simply add some points which I have not seen as often mentioned by others.Firstly, I most won over by the intelligence of the Marian. It is always frustrating in a book when the virtuous are blind to the machinations of the villans. So while we, as readers, are well aware that what appears to happening is being done for an ulterior motive, the good guys blindly wander on. it was, therefore, extremely pleasing that Marian keeps right up with the reader as the plot begins to unfold in the middle third of the book.The attitudes to women are tiresome but I guess they have to be accepted as an unfortunate reflection of the contemporary prejudices. Fosco is a quite superb character and Mr Fairley is perhaps the most annoying man to grace the pages of any book.The last third lost my interest a little. The incident with the fire seemed incongruous the 'secret' has lost much of its social potency over the 150 years since publication. The lengthy coda to the story after the fire as unduly long added little that any reasonable reader had not inferred from the previous 450 pages.

This is a 600 page novel that reads like it is 200. I nearly finished it in 2 days! It is immediately captivating, almost addictive reading. The characterization is sublime. Many modern readers are probably not aware of how revolutionary his narration of this book was. What a book! The diabolical Fosca! The indomitable Mariam! The secondary characters are as finely drawn as the major. The Uncle Fairlie is a piece of work. I love all the bits of foreshadowing andobjective correlatives, all handled with such subtlty.

I read this as an ebook, in bits and pieces over the course of several months. Probably that does not do it justice, but I suspect that if I’d tried to read it through, I would have got tired of it and quit. It’s written in a leisurely 19th century style, often stopping to explore and comment on a character’s thoughts and emotions, which greatly slows the pacing. I can imagine it being read aloud in a drawing room after supper, with the family enjoying the different voices, gasping in horror at the villainy of some of the characters and cheering on the plucky heros. This is probably how Wilkie Collins expected it to be read, and it would probably work best as a melodramatic entertainment with a good reader. (Apparently there are 15 versions of this at Audible.com.)To enjoy this kind of pacing, I think there has to be more going on than the simple, if mysterious, plotting in this book. But the characters are one-dimensional and the themes are obvious. There’s not really a lot to think about here. In that sense, it’s a bit like a superficial television detective serial. Entertainment, perhaps but mindless and not very engaging.What is interesting to see is the moral absoluteness of the heroic characters. The heroes are gentlemen of honour, who would not consider going back on their word, or questioning another gentleman’s honor. Women, to them, are sacrosanct, gentle beings to be elevated and protected. This makes the bad guys particularly villainous when they abuse their wives or deceive others for money. They all speak in restrained, elevated language, making the weakness of the one who loses his temper quite unspeakable. Fortunately for the English readership, the most evil of the bad guys is Italian, explaining his absolute lack of moral character and his odd habits.The characters of the few women are also interesting, except perhaps for the central object, one of two women in white. She, the object of the hero’s attention, is helpless, frequently sickly, and doting – the Victorian stereotype of the adored, delicate, angelic female. By contrast, her poor half-sister is energetic, intelligent, resourceful and strong. She does draw the admiration of the males, but only the most villainous of the bad guys is attracted to her, and in spite of her evident love for the hero and his admiration of her, she loses out to the cute one. If this book doesn’t have the outright racism of Collins’ Moonstone, it makes up for it in sexist stereotyping. Along with these black and white human values are the social and political values implicit in the text, such as the repeated references to the unimpeachable British systems of justice and democracy (especially when the villainous Italian Count Fosco extols their superiority). The highest values are reserved for the educated upper classes, while the lower classes are described as ignorant and crude.These same faults are common in other writers of 19th century fiction. Dickens drags out exposition, examines his characters thinking, deals in idealized stereotypes – but he does it with greater substance and style. His depth of detail and character – even for exaggerated characters – draws a reader in, and his emotion creates sympathy. This is lacking in Collins. So for me, this is enough of Wilkie Collins – when I want a leisurely 19th century read, I’ll turn to Dickens, George Eliot or one of their contemporaries.

Why did I wait this long to read this? It's one of my top 10 reads for the year.A beautiful and fragile woman, beloved sister and niece to a bedridden invalid, finds love when a drawing master is engaged for the 2 women. That love is not to be acknowledged because she is betrothed to another, one who is determined to marry her despite her frank admission to him that her heart has been given to another. Her husband appears to be the epitome of grace, charm and thoughtfulness .... until they are wed. She's reunited with her aunt who is married to a jovial Italian Count with a fondness for pet mice and birds ... but what is it about them that is making her nervous? And what is the mystery behind the woman in white, who escaped from a private asylum and who believes she knows a secret that could ruin everything? Told through narratives and journal entries, this tells the tale of greed, danger, secrets, conspiracyfear, and love. This is a page turner you won't want to put down.

Willkie Collins' The Woman in White is an extremely well-written, absorbing novel of love, loyalty and deception. Written in the mid-1800s, the tale has long been recognized as a classic, ranking among several different lists as an absolute "must read."The story takes place in London and Cumberland, England, where Walter Hartwright has been hired to serve as drawing instructor to a wealthy eccentric's nieces, Marian and Laura. Hartwright falls in love with Laura, but because he is below her station in life, he is dismissed from his position, and Laura goes ahead with her arranged marriage to Sir Percival Glyde, a man she cannot stand.It soon becomes clear that Sir Percival is only interested in Laura's money. Once he realizes she may hold a secret of his that could ruin his reputation, he and his friend, Count Fosco hatch a plan to get rid of her. Unexpected twists and turns ensue, involving mistaken identity, spies, theft and forgery.Though it was written hundreds of years ago, the book is very accessible and relevant to today's reader. Few novels are as equally engrossing and tightly formed. I can't find one flawwith The Woman in White, and encourage others to indulge in its rare satisfaction.

This isn't a ghost story, but rather a tangled soap opera of greed and mistaken identity. The heroine of the novel isn't the mysterious woman in white, or even the hero's love interest, Laura Fairlie, but rather an independent and entirely appealing woman named Marian Halcombe. She's resourceful and intrepid and I can't think of anyone I'd rather rely on in a time of trouble. The story itself concerns Walter Hartright, a young drawing master who takes a job at Limmeridge House and there meets Miss Halcombe and Miss Fairlie. He falls in love with Miss Fairlie and, because of his lower social status, he leaves and joins a dangerous trip to South America in an attempt to forget her. Laura is married to the nefarious Sir Percival, who is, naturally, only after her money. Included in this tale is a desperate woman Walter meets one night as she escapes from a mental asylum and whose fate is tied to Laura's. There's also a colorful Italian Count, who is the most interesting and villainous of men. And present every step of the story is Miss Halcombe, who protects Miss Fairlie, solves the mystery, fascinates the Italian Count, thwarts the bad guys and keeps Walter Hartright pointed in the right direction. There's something to be said for those wordy, Victorian authors. The Woman in White is the most suspenseful novel I have read in a long time. Wilkie Collins takes his time setting the scene, and then he slowly increases the tension, never allowing the reader the easy satisfaction of a quick resolution. Rather, the reader endures what the characters must; long moments of uncertainty, hours trapped without knowing if all was yet lost. It is a credit to Collins' writing that this strategy stands the test of time. Even in our era of instant gratification, I was more than willing to allow this book to hijack my days.

The Woman in White is the first true classic I have read in quite some time. I admit to feeling a bit daunted by it's size (730 pages) and the mixed reviews which referred to it as confusing and ambiguous. I needn't have worried. I loved it. A nearly perfect archetype of 19th century literature in it's love of lengthy descriptions and using setting to set mood, it is a delightful story of a devious cunning crime, and the even more delicious revenge. I recommend the version in my library which was easy to read as each section/ narrator was readily identified and which also has intersting period, publication and biographical information about the book.

When Walter comes across a mysterious “woman in white”, he must find out who she is. In the meantime, he has fallen in love with Laura, who will be married to Sir Percival, though she is in love with Walter. The book is told from many different points of view – technically, all “secondary” characters to the story. I actually thought this was kind of a cool way to tell the story, it’s just that I didn’t enjoy all the perspectives – many of them bored me. I was bored by the beginning and the end. It did pick up for me about ¼ of the way through (in my edition, that took about 125 pages), but then it slowed down again for the last 175 pages. It was the middle section, as told by the sister, Marian, that I really liked. This was when Laura/Lady Glyde was married. I’m not sure if it was just that part of the plot that kept my attention the best, or if I preferred the narrative as told by a woman? I quite liked Marian’s character, but thought Laura was pretty much a non-entity – she had no personality… despite being so much part of the plot, she seemed to mostly be in the background. I suppose that could be due to the fact that it was told by everyone else’s perspectives? Averaging out that I wasn’t crazy about the beginning and end, but that I really did enjoy the middle part, I’m giving it 3 stars, “ok”.

This book took me a loooong time to read, but I'm really glad I read it. It is so well-written and a really good mystery. I did guess some of the plot elements, but I still was very engrossed and wanted to keep reading to make sure my guesses were correct.The "woman in white" is Anne Catherick, who has escaped from an asylum and knows, or think she knows, a Secret about a nobleman. This nobleman wants to marry Laura Fairlie, but she is in love with her art instructor, Walter Hartwright. Marian Holcomb is Laura's half-sister and is always looking out for Laura's interests. The two are inseparable. Will Laura marry the nobleman--Percival Glyde--the man her father wanted her to marry? Or will she marry Walter Hartwright, the love of her life? Who is really after her money? Is Count Fosco just a charming foreigner or a "foreign spy"? Whose interests is he looking after? These questions and more will be answered when you embark on this wonderfully written gothic tale--a classic mystery that should be read by all.

I loved everything about this book: the alluring appeal of a classic mystery, the carefully measured (yet far from dull) tone of narration, the touching love story fraught with seemingly unsurmountable perils, the way the story is told by different personages involved (shedding light on each of their personalities so perfectly), the altogether engrossing story line... I never once got bored while reading this large volume of a book. A great piece of writing!

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is considered to be the first Mystery Novel ever written (the first mystery story in English is generally accepted to be Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue," but that's rather tangental). I won't go into a plot synopsis, as given the number of reviewers that have come before me, I'm sure someone did it it before me and better than I could anyway. But I will say that, because the novel was written in the 19th century, the mode of story telling may be a bit hard to adjust to for modern readers. It's an epistolary novel, meaning it's written in the form of a series of documents--letters, journals, and the like--strung together in order to tell the story. The documents come from a variety of sources and POVs, leaving it up to the reader to decide where in the midst of the varying view points lies the truth.The first half of the novel seems more akin to Victorian romance than anything. There are the rigid social constructs, a love that--however true it might be--is impossible because of this social divide. The typical thing you'd expect from a novel of this era. But the second half is where the mystery takes off, with the protagonists investigating, uncovering the villains' duplicity, and eventually exposing the truth. It was here that the book really took off from me. The first half was interesting, but it wasn't completely riveting. The second half was what made it all worth it. I found myself itching to read more, and the pages practically flew by.If you've read much from the Victorian era of literature, you can probably anticipate how the novel will end. But that doesn't make it any less fun. As I understand it, when the novel originally came out there were public readings, gatherings of friends and family as they read the novel out loud into the wee hours of the morning. They couldn't get enough of "The Woman in White." For most of today's readers, the novel probably won't grab them exactly like that. The structure of our modern mysteries is drastically different, and some mystery fans probably don't have the patience to slug it out for 200 pages to get to the really "exciting" stuff. But it is amazing how quickly you can adapt to the style and syntax, how easily you can be snared by the plot. If you're patient, you'll be amazed at what a treasure "The Woman in White" really is. It's a lesson in the history of a genre, the social constructs of a bygone era, and a plain 'ole good story.

This is a story of two half-sisters who are switched, one of them falling in love with the protagonist.A very confusing storyline. Definitely a thriller. Quirky characters.

This took me a while to read due to the style. Not one that I am crazy about. It was written in 1859 and is considered one of the first mystery or sensational novels. The writing style is very wordy, similar to Dickens. I find that those type of books take a slow read, for me.

The plot is very interesting, giving the reader a taste of what it was like for women at that time. It takes place in England and involves the lives of a young art teacher, Walter Hartright, his student, Laura Fairlie, her sister, Marian Halcombe, and the man that the student is forced to marry, Sir Percival Glyde. Laura's unsupportive uncle is the one to force the marriage that is only beneficial to Sir Percival. Told by various members of the story, it unravels how Laura's inheritance was stolen from her along with her life making her a lost person. It also tells how she once again regains her place in society with the help of Walter and Marian.

Social rank, or the lack of for women, fraud, subtrefuge, all come into play. Written during Victorian times, it paints an unsavoury picture of what life was like for women at that time. The fact that their status and level of life was dependent on who they married. Independent women were not a good thing.

I started reading this and then switched to the audio version from Librivox. I enjoyed the story quite a bit and was curious to know what "really happened", but I found the structure of the story to be stifling at times. It seemed so legalistic (which, in a way it was) that it interfered with the flow of the story - though I did enjoy the different viewpoints. Overall, enjoyable.

Read this years and years ago and should probably read again. I remember loving it.

A tedious novel. An epistolary novel written in 1859, serialized and first published in book 1860. 'sensation novel'. A detective fiction with the hero using sleuthing techniques of latest private detectives. The narratives draw on Collins' legal training. A sensation novel attempt to excite or frighten with dramatic disclosures and graphic violence. They took the horror of Gothic fiction and placed it in the domestic setting in English country estates or London houses.

I couldn't recommend this book unless one wants to read a classic and one of the first detective novels written. That is why I read it. the story is good but you have to work to read it.