The Woman in White (Penguin Classics)

The Woman in White opens with a mysterious encounter between artist Walter Hartright and an unnamed woman dressed entirely in white. Hartright runs into her late at night along the dark road from Hampstead Heath to London. The woman is clearly frightened, fleeing some unseen pursuer. She asks Hartright for directions, which he gives. He doesn’t know who she is, but his instinct tells him to help her.In her disconcerted ramblings, she tells him she had spent a brief portion of her youth in the country house he is planning to visit, and she warns him of an evil man he will soon encounter. After helping her on her way, Hartright eavesdrops on her pursuers: wardens from the insane asylum from which she escaped.Although he knows she’s distraught and probably not in her right mind, he can’t entirely dismiss what she’s told him because she has correctly named the inhabitants of the distant house to which he is about to travel.How’s that for a setup?The great thing about Wilkie Collins at his best is that he sets the highest expectations in the reader and then exceeds them on every level. Here, as in The Moonstone, he’s at his best. The breadth, intricacy, and coherence of his plots are extraordinary, the quality of his prose is superb, his characters are vivid and alive, and the worlds he creates are richly textured and utterly absorbing.As in The Moonstone, this story is told from multiple perspectives. In fact, it may be the first novel to be told by multiple narrators. The primary narrator, Hartright, makes a disclaimer up front, saying that the story will not be told in the usual novelistic form, but more in the form of a court case, in which each of the key players testifies in their own words about what they know.Collins shows an extraordinary range of styles as each narrator has a distinctive voice and perspective. Two of the least likable characters, the cunning and evil Count Fosco and the whiny, selfish Mr. Fairlie, offer up the funniest narratives in the book. Before we get to hear their sides of the story, we have seen them both act heartlessly, inflicting cruelty in their various ways on poor, virtuous Laura Fairlie.If these two were given a chapter to narrate in a contemporary mystery, the author would probably have them tell their story in nasty tones and malevolent terms to reinforce the reader’s hatred of them. But what, at bottom, allows one person to treat another heartlessly? In many cases, it’s a sense of arrogance, a sense that one is so far above the person they mistreat that the victim doesn’t matter and that all consideration is due to the perpetrator.This kind of arrogance is ripe for satire, and when Count Fosco and Mr. Fairlie do finally get their turns to narrate, we see the story through their hilariously distorted perspectives. The way they see the world around them is disturbing, to be sure, but they’re so self-absorbed and so colossally egotistical you can’t help but laugh. These chapters are some of the funniest I’ve ever read.The hardest thing about reading Collins is that the next book you read after his feels pale and thin. He truly was a master, and you can see in his works the pattern upon which almost all subsequent mystery and thriller writers built their work.I won’t try to summarize this one. I’ll just say that if you’re looking for a deeply absorbing read in which to immerse yourself, put this on your list.

This book is credited with originating--or at least codifying-- many of the tropes and traditions which still find their way into suspense novels: mistaken identities, false names, long buried secrets and more-- but there's still room for surprises as well. A very engaging novel by a contemporary and friend of Dickens.

Let me first state that this is the fifth book that I have read by Wilkie (Dead Secret, Haunted Hotel, Moonstone, and No Name). I went into this book with some bias since I have very much like the other stories that I have read by him. I will say that this book did not disappoint. This is a very good book that I would recommend.With that being said, the book does begin a little on the slow side. However, after the first 100 pages or so the story really begins to pick up and does not stop until the end.This is a story, not so much about the Woman in White, as it as about Laura and Marian. Marian, although being somewhat "ugly", turned out to be my favorite character, along with Count Fosco. The Woman in While plays a small but key role in the book. The mystery surrounding her makes the book very interesting since she seems to hold the key to the demise of Sir Percival Glyde. Percival has a secret that can cause him great pain and social harm. This is the mystery of which the Woman in White knows and is trying to communicate to Laura so to save her from Percival and Count Fosco. Also, it does come out in the end how Laura and the Woman in White look so much alike. You must put aside your doubts about so many conincidences and remember this is just a story. If you can do this, the book will be so much better.Count Fosco: what can I say about him. He is one of the best villians in literature. Deep down you know he is bad guy. Deep down Laura and Marian knows he is a bad guy but he is such a gentleman. He can talk in a way that is degrading but he does it in such a way that the characters don't even realize they are being insulted. He is also very cunning and smart. However, he does have one weakness that comes through in the end. It is not the looks of a woman that is his weakness but an admiration of this person on an intellectual level. This woman, and I will not give it away, is his match when it comes to cunning and wit. He realizes this and acknowledges it. In the end, you love to hate Count Fosco since you know he is the brains behind the whole conspiracy but what a gentleman.After the slow beginning, the book picks up and does not disappoint. If you have read the Moonstone or No Name, which in my opinion are equal to or better than this book, the Woman in White will not let you down. If you have read Woman in White and are thinking about Wilkie's other works, then I sugget the Moonstone and/or No Name.In the end, read this book. You will not be disappointed that you did. It is a little long (645 pages in the modern library edition) but I read it in a week. It is an easy, enjoyable read and worth the time.

I love the cover, it is so pretty and asthetic! It also had fast shipping

Except the sticker placed so it pulled off a piece of the cover illustration it's a lovely book

Libro entusiasmante, in inglese , ma comunque abbastanza facile da leggere, ma libro molto voluminoso ...ancora non ho finito di leggerlo anche se la trama è comunque accattivante... Spedizione puntualissima.

El libro me encantó lo recomiendo. Esta muy bien escrito y mantiene la intriga desde el comienzo hasta el final.

Llegó perfecto!