The Woman in White (1859)

by Wilkie Collins

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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11,609	317	462	(4.06)	7 / 1284
"The Woman In White"--now a dazzling new musical by the incomparable Andrew Lloyd Webber Wilkie Collinss sensational tale of madness, betrayal, and greed, "The Woman in White," is thrilling its West End audiences at the magnificent Palace Theatre in Londonand is coming to Broadway in the future. Since its original publication in 1860, the novel has never been out of print, and this suspenseful classic is now brought to life by a brilliant international ensemble, including the sublime Maria Friedman and Michael Crawford as the diabolical Count Fosco.… (more)

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▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
1001 Books to read before you die: Group Read, November 2013: The Woman in White	22 unread / 22	gaeta1, November 2013
The 11 in 11 Category Challenge: October Group Read - The Woman in White Discussion on Finishing	16 unread / 16	mstrust, November 2011
The 11 in 11 Category Challenge: October Read: The Woman in White - The Second Epoch (1st-4th)	21 unread / 21	cammykitty, October 2011
The 11 in 11 Category Challenge: October Group Read: The Woman in White - The First Epoch	26 unread / 26	RidgewayGirl, October 2011
The 11 in 11 Category Challenge: October Read: The Woman in White - The Second Epoch 6th to End	5 unread / 5	cammykitty, October 2011
The 11 in 11 Category Challenge: October Group Read - The Woman in White	18 unread / 18	DeltaQueen50, October 2011
Historical Mysteries: The Woman In White / The Dark Clue	2 unread / 2	Only2rs, August 2006

» See also 1284 mentions

▾Member reviews

English (304) Italian (4) Dutch (2) French (2) Spanish (2) Portuguese (1) Swedish (1) Catalan (1) All languages (317)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 304 (next | show all)

Dress and the body are important elements in Collin's excellent mystery novel, which makes this a good book to read for the student of mid-19th c. costume history. (

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AlainaZ | Jun 5, 2022 |

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

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natmo | Jun 1, 2022 |

Everyone faces problems, and it is likely that we can help people more than we realize. Best-selling author Dr. Gary R. Collins helps readers become more sensitive to the needs of others.

CCCClibrary | May 26, 2022 |

I started reading this last year even though I’m claiming it as my second book for 2022. It’s unnecessarily long, however speech back then did tend to be long winded. The gentry had time on their hands and a jolly good conversation or some lengthy correspondence was one way of filling the day. They loved to use language and words and Collins writes with a similar flourishing style. It’s a complicated mystery with lots of deceit and sinister intrigue. Quite a big cast of main characters, all well drawn and in spite of all the flourishes, I enjoyed it and can now cross it off my Classics list! (

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Fliss88 | Apr 19, 2022 |

Read originally in paperform.[return][return]Listened to as part of Craftlit podcast. (

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nordie | Apr 18, 2022 |

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Showing 1-5 of 304 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (73 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Wilkie Collins	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Bailey, Josephine	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Cauti, Camille	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Dei, Fedora	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Geeson, Judy	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Giordani, Andrea	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Holm, Ian	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Landor, Rosalyn	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lee, John	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lorac, E. C. R.	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Prebble, Simon	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Rees, Roger	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Ruffilli, Paolo	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Sutherland, John	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Sweet, Matthew	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Symons, Julian	Introduction	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Tummolini, Stefano	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Willis, Christine	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Woolf, Gabriel	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Amstelboeken (40-41)

Bantam Classics

Barnes and Noble Classics

Chios Classics

The Classic Collection

Dover Thrift Editions

— 22 more

Is contained in

Four Mysteries by Wilkie Collins (Armadale, The Moonstone, No Name, The Woman in White) by Wilkie Collins

The Law and the Lady/The Moonstone/The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Novels of Mystery from the Victorian Age by Maurice Richardson

The Moonstone and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins Premium Collection: 12 Novels & 17 Short Stories by Wilkie Collins

Contains

The Woman in White Part One by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White Part Two by Wilkie Collins

Is retold in

The Woman in White [adapted - Oxford Bookworm] by Richard G. Lewis

Has the (non-series) sequel

The Dark Clue by James Wilson

Is an adaptation of

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Has the adaptation

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White (BBC Radio Collection) by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White (adapted ∙ Longman simplified English series) by Wilkie Collins

(show 3 more)

Reading & Training : Wilkie Collins : The woman in white [book + sound recording] by CIDEB

The Woman in White Level 6 Oxford Bookworms Library by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White (Dramatized) by Wilkie Collins

Is abridged in

Doré's London: All 180 Images from the Original London Series with Selected Writings by Valerie Purton

The Woman in White [abridged - Penguin Reader] by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White [abridged audiobook] by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White [abridged - Oxford Reader] by Wilkie Collins

(show 1 more)

One hundred best novels condensed: 3 of 4 see note: Adam Bede; Tess of the D'Urbervilles; Don Quixote; East Lynne; Count of Monte Cristo; Paul and Virginia; Tom Brown's School Days; Waverley; Dombey and Son; Romola; Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Last of the Mohicans; Wreck of the "Grosvenor"; Right of Way; Coniston; Far from the Madding Crowd; Woman in White; Deemster; Waterloo; Hypatia; Kidnapped; Oliver Twist; Gil Blas; Peg Woffington; Virginians by Edwin Atkins Grozier

Has as a study

The Happy Reader - Issue 1 by Penguin Classics

Has as a student's study guide

Reading & Training : Wilkie Collins : The woman in white [book + sound recording] by CIDEB

Wilkie Collins' "Woman in White" (Passnotes S.) by Peter Broad

Notes on Collins' "Woman in White" (York Notes) by P.C. Curtis

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Woman in White

Original title

The Woman in White

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Cumberland, England, UK

Hampshire, England, UK

Important events

Related movies

The Woman in White (1997 | IMDb)

The Woman in White (1982 | IMDb)

The Woman in White (1948 | IMDb)

The Woman in White (1912/I | IMDb)

The Woman in White (1912/II | IMDb)

(show all 11 items)

Awards and honors

BBC's Big Read (Best loved novel, 2003, No 77)

The Observer's 100 Greatest Novels of All Time (23)

Guardian 1000 (Crime)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006/2008/2010/2012 Edition)

The Telegraph's 110 Best Books: The Perfect Library (2008)

(show all 21 items)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

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

T. S. Eliot, in seeking to express his admiration for Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, together with Armadale and The Moonstone, regretted that there was no aesthetic of melodrama, a genuine art form. (Introduction)

An experiment is attempted in this novel, which has not (so far as I know) been hitherto tried in fiction. (Preface 1860)

'The Woman in White' has been received with such marked favour by a very large circle of readers, that this volume scarcely stands in need of any prefatory introduction on my part. (Preface 1861)

Quotations

The soft hazy twilight was just shading leaf and blossom alike into harmony with its own sober hues as we entered the room, and the sweet evening scent of the flowers met us with its fragrant welcome through the open glass doors.

There are three things that none of the young men of the present generation can do. They can't sit over their wine, they can't play at whist, and they can't pay a lady a compliment.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Symonds, Julian

Sayers, Dorothy L.

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

PR4494 .W5 1999

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

The Woman in White (novel)

▾Book descriptions

"The Woman In White"--now a dazzling new musical by the incomparable Andrew Lloyd Webber Wilkie Collinss sensational tale of madness, betrayal, and greed, "The Woman in White," is thrilling its West End audiences at the magnificent Palace Theatre in Londonand is coming to Broadway in the future. Since its original publication in 1860, the novel has never been out of print, and this suspenseful classic is now brought to life by a brilliant international ensemble, including the sublime Maria Friedman and Michael Crawford as the diabolical Count Fosco.

▾Library descriptions

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

When Walter Hartwright encounters a solitary, terrified, beautiful woman dressed in white on a moonlit night in London, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress. The story, full of secrets, locked rooms, lost memories, and surprise revelations, features heroine Marian Halcombe and drawing-master Walter Hartright as sleuthing partners pitted against the diabolical Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde. This gothic psychological thriller, a mesmerizing tale of murder, intrigue, madness, and mistaken identity, has gripped the imagination of readers since its first publication in 1860. The breathtaking tension of Collins's narrative created a new literary genre of suspense fiction, which profoundly shaped the course of English popular writing.

Haiku summary

Identity theft,
money, madness, hidden crimes –
a Collins classic.
(passion4reading – thank you, wisewoman)

The Woman in White.
Count Fosco controls it all,
but Marian wins!
(rretzler)

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