When Charles Dickens founded the journal All Year Round, he led the first issue with A Tale of Two Cities. The magazine was a two-column, unillustrated affair designed for those who read a magazine from cover to cover like a book. When A Tale of Two Cities ended on Nov. 26, 1859, the first installment of A Woman in White by Wilkie Collins began without minimal fanfare on the same page. The Collins novel ran in 40 weekly installments and was published in book form just before the last installment—for a reader anxious to read the end. The first edition sold out in one day. It does not have as many memorable lines as A Tale of Two Cities, but it provoked as much discussion around Victorian dinner tables.
It is a defining example of the Sensation Novel—a genre that combines elements of Gothic fiction, melodrama, sentimental domestic drama, and topical crime narrative. The plotting is complex, employing multiple narrative points of view. Its structure reminded me of the House of Representatives presentation in the January 6 Capitol riot investigation. The Woman in White has some notable characters—especially Marian Halcombe, who received marriage proposals from readers hoping she was drawn from life.
Collins tells the story clearly, without many literary flourishes, but it still chills. It has inspired a surprising number of movies, TV series, radio dramas, and even a musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Its themes involving gender performance, identity theft, and social class still resonate. Victorian England was what W. H. Auden called the twentieth century--an “age of anxiety.” Nothing was as stable as it seemed. In Collins’ novel, every household has secrets that would shock its neighbors. Everyone’s nerves are frayed. Incurable illnesses threaten. Everyone lies.
No wonder we still read it—still a strong four stars. ( )

This one's been on my TBR for years, and it did not disappoint. Mysterious, possibly bananas, women walking around at night and just in the out-of-doors in general saying enigmatic and quirky things, drawing tutors falling for their students, possibly-evil-but-maybe-not? men, shady pasts filled with secrets, and strong women with strong sisterhoods. Excellently written and paced, and nicely twisty. I loved it. ( )

Really enjoyed this classic that was a pick of my RLBG. My I read it on our camping trip and since there was NO internet at the cabin, I was able to sink into the story the way a contemporary reader of the book would have. Collins wove together the various perspectives of the characters including police-style witness statements and created a suspenseful story of intrigue and deceit. The prose was old-fashioned but didn't really get into the way of the plot. ( )

DNF. I really tried to finish the Woman in white because it is supposedly a classic of the genre. The writing is so dated, overwrought, and tiresome I slogged halfway through and gave up. Life is too short.

There was a lot to enjoy about this mystery written in 1859. Collins tells the tale of two sisters, Marian and Laura. Laura is engaged to be married to a baronet, but shortly before the wedding, she is warned that marrying him would be a terrible idea. On this premise, hinges a very complex plot. In my mind, the plot collapses a bit under its own convoluted weight, but the characters themselves are very entertaining, and on that lies the strength of the book.

Collins also uses a method to tell the story that was interesting. It is told in a strictly linear fashion, but using the voices and perspectives of different characters. I've certainly read tons of books that use first person narratives from the different characters, but I can't recall one adhering to linear timeline in quite the same way.

All in all, I found this book to use a level of detail that creates a feeling that it all could have really happened, but also causes the book to drag on a bit at points. Fortunately, Collins is pretty skilled at using suspense, such that the book begs to be finished despite the length. ( )