The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

Title: The Woman in White
Author: Wilkie Collins
Genre: Classic
Rating: 9/10
# pages: Audiobook from Librivox
Date read: December, 2008

Summary: "There, in the middle of the broad, bright high-road - there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven - stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments."

Thus young Walter Hartright first meets the mysterious woman in white in what soon became one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century. Secrets, mistaken identities, surprise revelations, amnesia, locked rooms and locked asylums, and an unorthodox villain made this mystery thriller an instant success when it first appeared in 1860, and it has continued to enthrall readers ever since. From the hero's foreboding before his arrival at Limmeridge House to the nefarious plot concerning the beautiful Laura, the breathtaking tension of Collins's narrative created a new literary genre of suspense fiction, which profoundly shaped the course of English popular writing.

Review: When I saw that the recording of The Woman in White ran for more than 32 hours, I almost gave it up again. I am SO glad I didn't, because it's a fascinating and terrific book. The readers from Librivox did a great job, and having a different reader for each "author" of the transcript gave a really good effect.

At points in the narrative I feared for the ending, knowing that it would make or break the book. Fortunately it made it, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is a book I return to again and again. I found the writing style very suiting to the narrative and the characters believable and engaging. I think Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco receive the dubious honour of being some of my favourite literary villains of all time.

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