This is one of those occasions when I wish I could complain ’Why, why did no one tell me about this wonderful book? Are you all cruel and inhuman?’, but of course I was told – and told repeatedly – to read Collins' masterpiece of romance and chicanery, and everyone who recommended it was right in doing so and they all (seven, at the last count, not including written reviews) have my extremely tardy gratitude. The first time was almost twenty years ago, so I can’t even claim I haven’t had time to pick it up.

On the bright side, how many times do we, as readers of ‘classic’ literature, find we’ve missed something so delightful, so engaging and suspenseful, that it shoots to the top of our lifetime favourites list, after twenty-some years of steady reading? I’ve read a lot of classics I’ve liked and even loved, since first devouring Austen and the Brontës, but nothing so belatedly, nor with such firm conviction from page one that I would relish every line. I swear I shivered with glee that first evening, about fifty pages in, when that particular resemblance was noticed.

I won’t claim that I ‘couldn’t put it down’. Actually, I put it down several times; I’m not sure that I ever ‘left it’, however. The particulars of the plot and the various characters’ plight kept returning to me, and I would catch myself grinning in anticipation of returning to the story.

The story is first narrated by a young drawing master –Walter Hartright – who has fallen in love with one of his two pupils, Laura, who is engaged to another man, after seeing a woman of her very likeness flitting about London in a state of high agitation one night. Her older sister, by far the more sensible of the pair, joins Hartright in a bit of amateur sleuthing while they attempt to discover the link between the Farlie family and the ‘woman in white’. It is not long before the two women are embroiled in plot that leaves the reader thoroughly outraged on their behalf. Walter, meanwhile, has gone to sea in such a delightfully written romantic funk that I found myself feeling a very real approximation of thwarted love on the couple’s behalf.

It is Collin’s ability to engage both the emotions and the mind that make this book so enjoyable... Collins writes the romance that begins this story with an enthusiasm that puts modern male writers to shame, but it is a romance in the other sense, as well; where the atmosphere is beautiful, even gothic, and the plot a shameless flirt. Each character is rich in personality, my favourite being Laura’s uncle, Mr. Farlie, who’s nerves provided both entertainment and frustration. The deplorable Count Fosco’s affection for Miss Halcombe was a particularly sinister yet sympathetic touch. As with a lot of period literature, attitudes to women sometimes have to be passed over, but otherwise I’d have to read this book a second time to catch the flaws – while I was involved in the story, there simply were none.

No one needs to nag me to pick up The Moonstone. It’s sitting in my Amazon basket waiting my next splurge on books. I have learned my lesson. ( )

The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins, is a fantastic and wonderfully suspenseful novel, originally published as a whole manuscript in 1860, though it was serialized for publication from 1859-1860. It is considered to be one of the first mystery novels and a leader in the detective novel genre. There are Gothic themes running throughout to make things spooky and eerie, but ultimately we're dealing with a novel where all the characters are flesh and blood and there are sound explanations for everything. In his introduction, Collins posits that this might be one of the first novels of its kind, written using multiple narrators. Wikipedia calls this an epistolary novel, though I'm not entirely sure I'd use such categorization. The novel is constructed using accounts of events from various people, which alludes more to Collins's legal background. Collins writes in the introduction that "the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness."

The basic plot (though I honestly think you should just dive in without much knowledge) focuses on strange appearances, forbidden love, inheritances, marrying for money, murder plots, spies, asylums, forgeries, secrets, and revenge. Seriously, how much more do you need to know? Just start reading! My friend described this book as being full of "the best parts of Dickens" and that's somewhat apt. Somehow, one is constantly propelled through this novel without Collins dropping the ball. Every now and then, when I came up for air after burying myself in this book for hours, I would wonder how Collins could possibly keep such momentum. I'm still not sure how he managed, but I never felt as though things were dragging along even for a moment.

Walter Hartright has taken a position as a drawing teacher to two young ladies at the country home Limmeridge House in Cumberland, owned by a Mr. Farlie. Before leaving London for Limmeridge House, Walter encounters a strange young woman in white at a very late hour, alone and practically materializing from thin air. Walter offers to escort her to a taxi or fly, which she accepts, and he has the feeling that she thinks she is being pursued by someone. This might all be strange enough, except that when he makes conversation and mentions his upcoming trip to Cumberland, the woman in white says that she was once happy there -- at Limmeridge! She particularly mentions the late Mrs. Fairlie, but Walter can get little else out of her. After seeing her safely into a fly, Walter overhears two men ask a police officer if he has seen a woman who matched the description of the woman in white -- and when the policeman asks why they are seeking her, the men respond that she has just escaped from their asylum! After such a strange evening, Walter leaves London and makes his way to his new position. He first meets Marian Halcombe, who at appears to be a stunning figure of a woman initially... yet turns around and reveals that she is quite ugly, though Walter does ultimately find her to be charming, clever, and devoted to the well-being of her half-sister, Laura. Laura Fairlie is the heiress of Limmeridge House, and the niece of Mr. Fairlie. She is fair and beautiful, quiet and demure (everything that might have seemed perfect in a woman then... and makes the modern female reader wish to bash her over the head).

While Laura might be the beautiful one (and everyone can see that Walter is besotted with her from first glance), Walter truly seems to befriend Marian. He tells her about his encounter with the woman in white and Marian looks through her late mother's letters to see if they can identify the woman... which they manage to do by a detail that Walter did not identify until Marian reads it aloud from the letter -- that the woman in white (Anne Catherick) and Laura Fairlie look almost exactly alike! Such coincidences! Of course, this seems to fall a bit to the side when Walter's overpowering love for Laura becomes an issue. He's perfectly aware that the difference in their stations renders it an impossible match and this is confirmed when Marian, who has observed their growing affection for each other, counsels Walter to leave Limmeridge House for his own sake as well as Laura's. Laura has been engaged for the past two years to a Sir Percival Glyde, a match sanctioned by Laura's father before he died and for that reason only, Laura would never call it off. Never fear, dear reader... our main plotline is not "let's get Walter and Laura together." We watch Laura marry Sir Percival despite deep misgivings, we come back to the woman in white, we learn more about why we just don't like that Sir Percival cat, and we get introduced to some pretty awesome foreign characters. I could keep talking about the plot, but I won't. This is all just the beginning. It gets good. Go read it.

Not to bask in my own awesomeness, but I selected this book for my book club and I'm quite pleased with myself. I devoured it in a handful of days and believe that I'll spend a great deal of time thinking about this one -- long after my book club has gone over it with a fine-toothed comb. Marian Halcombe is a brilliant character and Count Fosco is ridiculous and amazing. There was a moment in the book where I knew what was coming, and then Collins followed this up with something so brilliant that I gasped out loud. I'm sure that I could be more eloquent about my praise for this book, but perhaps I'll update this review once I have my book club meeting, so I can incorporate some of that insight here, too. ( )

The Woman in White is a well-written story of suspense and romance. Like most British novels of the 19th century, the plot revolves around marriage and inheritance, but in this case the marriage is only the beginning of the story.

The novel is narrated in turn by several of its characters in a form resembling a legal deposition. The reason for this is integral to the plot itself, and it is a very convincing way to tell the story, especially since there is a mystery involved. We see the situation from several sides at once, but are not master of all the facts until the characters themselves discover them.

The principal narrator is Walter Hartright, a teacher of drawing. As the novel begins, he has been engaged to teach two young women at a country house named Limmeridge. In London before his departure, he encounters a mysterious woman dressed all in white, obviously a fugitive of some kind, who just happens to mention Limmeridge. Thus begins the mystery of the Woman in White, a person whose origins and fate will turn out to hold the key to the future for Hartwright and his two pupils.

One of the highlights of the novel is the narration by Marian Halcombe, the elder of Hartright's two students. She represents the growing independence and assertiveness of women at that time, but is fully aware of the limited scope to which her life is constrained by custom. Another memorable character is Count Fosco, a villain who is at the same time terrifying and compelling.

Collins manages to weave a complex plot of intrigue and detection without leaving the reader behind. Even reading it for the second time, I found The Woman in White hard to put down. Its only drawbacks are a couple of improbable chance encounters and one rather inelegant and unforseeable plot twist near the end on which the outcome hinges. ( )

Five out of ten. eBook.Features Marian Halcombe and her sleuthing partner, drawing master Walter Hartright, pitted against the diabolical team of Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde.Predictable after about 10 pages. ( )

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) ( )