The Woman In White - Wilkie Collins

The Woman In White

By Wilkie Collins

  • Release Date: 1929-01-01
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 663 Ratings

Description

Walter Hartright, a young art teacher, meets a mysterious and distressed woman dressed in white. He helps her on her way, but later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. Next day, he travels to Limmeridge House in Cumberland, having been hired as a drawing master on the recommendation of his friend, Pesca, an Italian language master. The Limmeridge household comprises the invalid Frederick Fairlie, and Walter's students: Laura Fairlie, Mr Fairlie's niece, and Marian Halcombe, her devoted half-sister. Walter realises that Laura bears an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white, who is known to the household and whose name is Anne Catherick. The mentally disabled Anne had lived near Limmeridge as a child and was devoted to Laura's mother, who first dressed her in white.

Reviews

  • The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

    5
    By MKGRDoodle
    The rather long-winded style of this compatriot & contemporary of Charles Dickens is a compelling tale of virtue and loyalty beset by perfidy and greedy self-interest. While there is a female character possessing strength, courage and intelligence, she is as degraded by the patronizing morès of the mid-18th century culture as were nearly all women of that time. Whether intentional or not, the generalized servitude required of women in that patriarchal, class-divided society is blatantly unfair and leads to inequities for all members of that society.
  • Excellent read

    4
    By Cruz0879
    This was an enjoyable read that provoked thought and provided entertainment. It was a pleasant diversion from the usual mindless dribble that seems to be written everywhere these days.
  • Woman in White(a must read)

    5
    By GV Fan
    If you are a fan of mysteries, you have to read this. Collins set the standard by which all subsequent novels are to be judged by.
  • The Woman in White

    5
    By Didjplayer
    This book is absolutely fascinating. I recommend it as a "Must Read".
  • A journal book

    3
    By Relief Society
    I found this book interesting. Mystery, some romance, evil vs. good. Unfortunately, written as a journal with several witness' depositions, the voice of one of the most important characters in the book does not have a voice. As such, her character is developed poorly and, given her importance to the plot, almost faceless. A movie was made of the book. I will find it interesting to discover more of this character, which will have to find a face at the hands of the movie makers.
  • Fabulous Story!

    5
    By B.B. Player
    This was a page turner from beginning to end. Intriguing plot. Satisfying ending.
  • Victorian Gothic

    3
    By Allysonyj
    It's all here: the delicately beautiful heiress, the poor but noble-hearted suitor, the dastardly husband with the dark secret, the suave and invidious foreign genius, the madwoman escaped from the asylum. You can see the plot coming because it has been copied hundreds of times, and in much less words. So why read the original in all its verbiage? Wilkie Collins is a satirist and humorist. He is not Dickens, but he is funny and deft in his descriptions and his characters are alive. I wish he had done better by the stalwart sister. Just a few more pages might have provided a happy ending for her too. I suspect Wilkie was worn out.
  • Terrific

    5
    By existdissolve
    Overshadowed in his own time by Dickens, Wilkie Collins was nonetheless an outstanding writer. The Woman in White and Moonstone are original, compelling stories that keep you on the edge of your seat (and belief) until the end. If you're in the mood for some 19th century mystery, give Woman in White a read...you will not be disappointed.