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bibliobethreads 's review for:
The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins - what can I say? I’m absolutely flabbergasted that I’ve never read any of his work before, I’ve clearly been missing out. The Woman In White is described as the first and most influential novel in the Victorian genre to combine Gothic horror with psychological realism and it does it perfectly.
This is the story initially of a young man, Walter Hartright who has an eerie encounter (with a woman in white) on a road in the middle of the night whilst on the way to take up a position of drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie. This encounter haunts him from the beginning of the narrative right to the very end of the novel exploring themes of insanity, identity, family dynamics and the role of the woman in society.
I loved this novel so much that I immediately was determined to research more about it. I learned that the author preferred that the reader should know as little as possible about the story so that the twists and turns would be even more surprising and effective. I simply cannot say anymore except to urge you that if you enjoy a good “sensation” novel, this superb story should be right up your street.
During the period that Collins was writing in, serialisations of novels were popular so The Woman In White would have been released part by part. I can imagine how simultaneously exciting and frustrating that must have been, especially if the previous section had ended on a cliffhanger. Furthermore, each section of the novel is told by a separate witness to the events which only added to my reading enjoyment, particularly as we started to get to know each character better as the novel continued.
The Woman In White is an outstanding piece of fiction that I’m so grateful to have finally experienced. It’s the sort of book you want to read all over again straight after finishing and I was so tempted to do just that. I can’t wait to check out the rest of his back catalogue!
Five perfect stars
This is the story initially of a young man, Walter Hartright who has an eerie encounter (with a woman in white) on a road in the middle of the night whilst on the way to take up a position of drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie. This encounter haunts him from the beginning of the narrative right to the very end of the novel exploring themes of insanity, identity, family dynamics and the role of the woman in society.
I loved this novel so much that I immediately was determined to research more about it. I learned that the author preferred that the reader should know as little as possible about the story so that the twists and turns would be even more surprising and effective. I simply cannot say anymore except to urge you that if you enjoy a good “sensation” novel, this superb story should be right up your street.
During the period that Collins was writing in, serialisations of novels were popular so The Woman In White would have been released part by part. I can imagine how simultaneously exciting and frustrating that must have been, especially if the previous section had ended on a cliffhanger. Furthermore, each section of the novel is told by a separate witness to the events which only added to my reading enjoyment, particularly as we started to get to know each character better as the novel continued.
The Woman In White is an outstanding piece of fiction that I’m so grateful to have finally experienced. It’s the sort of book you want to read all over again straight after finishing and I was so tempted to do just that. I can’t wait to check out the rest of his back catalogue!
Five perfect stars