The Woman in White

Rating:
Summary: Excellent suspense novel that holds up well today
Review: Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White is an excellent suspense novel written over 100 years ago. It's 650 pages, and has the relatively wordy passages indicative of that era. How then, you ask, could it be that suspenseful? My response: Read it and see! I found myself reading 200 pages a day in it, simply refusing to put it down, as I HAD to find out what happened to these characters.


And speaking of characters, what about them? Victorian novels are renowned for their character development, and this one is no exception. The protagonist, Walter Hartwright--a drawing instructor--is the perfect English gentleman, sometimes maddeningly so. While he explains what is happening and the proper course of action, the villains are running around wreaking their havoc. Walter's partner in good is Marian Halcombe, the driving force of the novel. She's more decisive than Walter, more courageous, and more determined than anyone else. Think of her as Scarlett O'Hara, but without Scarlett's flaws. At one point the villain even says that as long as Marian is against him, he must work harder than ever before! The villain himself, Count Fosco, is one of the most wonderful creations in literature. Collins melds the character--a mass of contradictions--perfectly, creating the consummate villain: witty, urbane, knowledgeable, always ahead of the good guys, and seemingly able to be in two places at one time. The only weak character in the novel is Laura, around whom the plot revolves. However, even though everything hinges on her, she's not actually in the novel that much, so her lack of development is barely noticed.


The novel, as other reviewers have said, requires some suspension of belief. Two unrelated women look like twins. One of them changes so much from grief that her family doesn't recognize her. People happen to be frequenlty at just the right place at the right time. However, none of this seriously detracts from the novel. The suspense is marvellous!


The plot is very complex. In a very brief synopsis, Marian and Laura become the victim of an apparent perfect crime. They and Walter must find a way out of it, as a mysterious woman in white (the titular character) seems desperate to share a secret with them. Is it what they need? The novel, however, is so much more than that! As twenty narrators provide their parts in events first-hand (one picks up as the other leaves off chronologically), the suspense mounts!


Bottom Line: Get this excellent suspense novel, and don't let the length or publication year deter you! The Victorian Era adds to the great characters, each of whom is so real that I made comparisons with people I actually know. The language, while somewhat stilted, is quite readable and intriguing, and in no way, deters from the suspense. You'll find yourself unable to put the book down; there's a reason it hasn't gone out of print in 150 years!