Sunday, April 11, 2010

Review: Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White (Oxford World's Classics)It's some years since I've read a Victorian novel, and I admit that it took a few chapters for me to re-adapt to the Victorian style of writing and of speaking. Often a little long winded, in typical Victorian fashion, making me re-read a sentence three or four times to determine exactly what the writer is saying, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins soon became not only enjoyable but a book I could barely put down!

I am very glad to say that I stuck with it. Initially I thought this would be a romance so I braced myself for that alone. I admit that I skipped a couple of pages when I was a few chapters in (I can only handle so much drippy fawning over a beloved) but only had to do that once.

Woman in White is certainly not just a romance, but also a great mystery novel and filled with some very intriguing characters. Marian Halcombe is, of course, my favorite - a strong woman who belittles herself and women far too much, but also Pesca and later the Count - even at the end, I couldn't bring myself to hate Fosco! Indeed the only characters that I disliked were those I believe I was supposed to dislike... the idiotic Fairlie, the smarmy Baronet and a pity-hate relationship with Mrs Catherack. Throughout the whole book, we are made aware that something bad happens... and unlike a traditional mystery where we read to find out whodunnit, in this case we wait with baited breath to ask not only whodunnit, but also what did they do? Cleverly written and highly recommended!

Woman In White is in the public domain so I picked up a free ebook at Amazon and I was perfectly happy with the Kindle formatting.

2 comments :

  1. Hmmm. Good review, and you sold me...except Amazon wanted $7 for that public domain item...?

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  2. Oops, sorry here's the link for the free one - and the formatting was finr
    The Woman in White
    Enjoy!

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