Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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119 of 123 people found the following review helpful:
Innocence, Villainy and Heroism, February 3, 2003
Laura Fairly is the innocent, the young, sheltered, Victorian maiden who abides by her departed father's wishes. On his deathbed, he bids her to marry Sir Percival Glyde. Enter villainy. The grasping, frightened, short-tempered Sir Percival insists on a speedy wedding. He handily dispatches any obstacles thrown up in his path; he is damned and determined to wed Laura--and her fortune. But Laura has a sister, Marian, a strong-willed, independent, fiercely loyal sister who at first champions the marriage and then recoils once she realizes the true nature of Sir Percival. The man is a monster. And Marian will do anything to protect her sister. Heroism, and then some. There is also another, a drawing master named Walter Hartright, commissioned to teach Laura and Marian the fine art of watercolors. He falls in love with Laura, and she with him--before her marriage to Sir Percival. The drama should be obvious.
But what of the title? Who is the Woman in White? Her chance meeting with Walter Hartright on the road to London provides the catalyst upon which the entire narrative turns. She is at once and both the key and the puzzle. She is a victim. She is a harbinger. She scares Sir Percival out of his wits.
This book offers vivid portrayals of Victorian England, its mannerisms, its wardrobe, its inhibitions, its attitude. This book eerily reflects our own time, our own angst, in the 21st century. Once you read it, you'll know what I mean. Deception has no age.
P.S. Whatever you do, don't turn your back on Count Fosco!
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
Virtue versus Villainy, September 30, 2006
This engaging mystery pits three idealistic young people in the traps of larcenous, black-hearted villians. A mysterious woman-in-white encournters Walter Hartright, a young drawing master on his way to a new commission in the country. From then on, it seems that their fate and lives are tangled together, this woman-in-white, and Walter and his pupils Marian Halcombe and Laura Fairlie. At first it seemed like a lighthearted curiosity, that Marian searches for in her mother's letters, just a childhood acquaintance. The first few months at Limmeridge, the Fairlie's mansion, Walter Hartright, Marian Halcombe and Laura Fairlie spend a happy companionable season as drawing master and pupils, with not a worry in their heads but the beautiful nature scenes, walks in the gardens and contemplation of the blue sky. That is, until Laura's impending marriage to Sir Percival Glyde draws a gloomy end to their idyllic days. From then on, the pace quickens as the woman-in-white first sends a letter of warning to Laura, and then later, lurks around attempting to deliver a Secret to Laura, only to be foiled by the maneuverings of an elderly corpulent Count who has allied himself with Sir Percival Glyde.
Laura becomes the victim, Walter the absent hero, and it is all up to Marian, the lion-hearted defender of her sister, who stands as protector, investigator, and emotional supporter to Laura, that is until tragic circumstances force their separation. Just when things seem the darkest, a surprising twist grabs the reader for a rousing finale that carries Walter incognito from Central America to London to Blackwater Park to Cumberland to Welmingham to an old church where the "Secret" of Sir Percival Glyde is revealed and wickedness is recompensed.
A guaranteed page-turner that will keep you up way past your bedtime. Everything is explained at the end, except for the reason that Laura's late father wanted her to marry Percival Glyde in the first place.
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43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
This is one of the highest standards Mr. Wilkie Collins set, August 13, 2000
"The Woman In White" is either the best mystery by this Author, or some readers like myself would choose "The Moonstone". I read the latter first, and the first introduction often remains a favorite. These are also his most well known works, although as an Author and playwright he produced dozens. Rarely is a book received with such a unity of opinion, the 31 reviewers that precede me gave an average of a perfect 5 stars. And this praise is for a book that is now being published in its third century.The book is intricate; it has the reader view the same events from many points of view of a variety of characters, in either written or spoken form. From the first encounter with the lady in white, to the final step out of Mr. Collins's maze, into the open space of "seeing" all the bits he has presented you with, the book is uniformly excellent. One commercial review suggested the book improved by being abridged, but they can be dismissed, as that is what they are selling on tape. Mr. Collins was a writer not a recording Artist, and even those who listen to the audio version have done nothing to deserve being given an interpretation of the novel. His writing has survived and flourished while countless means of communication conveyance have come and gone. Mr. Collins constructs intricate plots, to share them, allow them to develop, and then to unwind the mystery takes time, or perhaps pages. This book and others were issued to the public in stages over several months. Even when they were bound for library use, they were bound in 3 separate bindings. All of this was taken into account when the writing was done, to suggest there can be any modification of the work is to advertise ignorance. To suggest an abridgement is not only possible but also an improvement is imbecilic. Mr. Wilkie Collins, his friend Mr. Charles Dickens, and their contemporaries wrote books, They were as long as they needed to be, for their Authors or Authoresses were not pondering what the movie rights might bring, or how to adapt a particular character to suit a given actor. The writing they did was uncorrupted. It is true, especially with Mr. Dickens that he read from his work for the public, and did so extensively. But to compare a live reading by the creator of a work, to another mechanical abridged format is absurd. "The Woman In White" would probably not be published for the first time today. How many books of this length do you find yourself inundated with from today's Authors? Of course there are excellent writers today, a handful can be brilliant in one third the space of this book, but so what? Well one problem is that for Charles Palliser to create one of his works takes years, and the results are magnificent, but like others who will remain in print ad infinitum, his work is long. His work has also been compared to that of Mr. Collins. In the end Readers decide what is to stay and what is to be forgotten. It is wonderful that while more and more of what is offered presently are ready-made screenplays, or bound thoughts with the depth of a parking lot puddle, we still have these gems handed down to us whose quality has ensured their permanence. If mystery is what you like, this is the Author who started it. Enjoy.
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