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A review by lauraborkpower
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
3.0
The epistolary/diary style narrative, tense atmosphere, and well developed cast of characters make this a great read, but I can't give it four stars because, at the end of the day, it is also a frustrating read.
It's frustrating because of the absolute powerlessness of our characters, especially our female characters Marion and Laura. Now, I don't mind that they're powerless. In fact it's this very powerlessness makes it a true tale of horror alongside stories like Rosemary's Baby and The Lady Vanishes where the female characters are manipulated, psychologically tortured, betrayed, and made to think that they are crazy. I love stories like this; I find them to be much more terrifying than stories of ghosts or monsters (although yes, Rosemary's Baby is a monster story, but that's not what makes it so scary). But, because The Woman in White is a product of its time, the women cannot overcome their situation or their nemesis alone. They must use a man--albeit a man who we as readers are rooting for--to do the work for them.
Even Marion, who is a strong and independent female character and easily the heroine of Collins's story, is only allowed to live because of Count Fosco. He admires her (and loves her) so that he helps her to live when she comes down with fever and tuberculosis. He reads her diary and makes notes about, essentially, how *cute* it is. And it is Fosco who ultimately holds the power to confess his deeds in writing and give Marion's sister Laura her identity back.
And then we realize that Laura wouldn't have even inherited Limmeridge House if she'd not had a male child. (And did anyone notice that as soon as Walter and Laura get married he almost exclusively refers to her as "my wife" instead of using her name? Come on, Walt.)
Now, none of this is surprising given the book's historical context. But it's still irritating. Yes, I enjoyed the book; it's well written, well narrated (Bailey and Prebble are great), and a solid mystery. But if I want this kind of tense frustration from a novel again, I'll stick with Ethel Lina White and her female protagonist who gets shit done and saves her own day.
It's frustrating because of the absolute powerlessness of our characters, especially our female characters Marion and Laura. Now, I don't mind that they're powerless. In fact it's this very powerlessness makes it a true tale of horror alongside stories like Rosemary's Baby and The Lady Vanishes where the female characters are manipulated, psychologically tortured, betrayed, and made to think that they are crazy. I love stories like this; I find them to be much more terrifying than stories of ghosts or monsters (although yes, Rosemary's Baby is a monster story, but that's not what makes it so scary). But, because The Woman in White is a product of its time, the women cannot overcome their situation or their nemesis alone. They must use a man--albeit a man who we as readers are rooting for--to do the work for them.
Even Marion, who is a strong and independent female character and easily the heroine of Collins's story, is only allowed to live because of Count Fosco. He admires her (and loves her) so that he helps her to live when she comes down with fever and tuberculosis. He reads her diary and makes notes about, essentially, how *cute* it is. And it is Fosco who ultimately holds the power to confess his deeds in writing and give Marion's sister Laura her identity back.
And then we realize that Laura wouldn't have even inherited Limmeridge House if she'd not had a male child. (And did anyone notice that as soon as Walter and Laura get married he almost exclusively refers to her as "my wife" instead of using her name? Come on, Walt.)
Now, none of this is surprising given the book's historical context. But it's still irritating. Yes, I enjoyed the book; it's well written, well narrated (Bailey and Prebble are great), and a solid mystery. But if I want this kind of tense frustration from a novel again, I'll stick with Ethel Lina White and her female protagonist who gets shit done and saves her own day.