The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Score)

The Woman in White is Wilkie Collins' fifth published novel, written in 1859. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of "sensation novels".

The story is sometimes considered an early example of detective fiction with the hero, Walter Hartright, employing many of the sleuthing techniques of later private detectives. The use of multiple narrators draws on Collins's legal training,[1][2] and as he points out in his Preamble: "the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness". In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer listed The Woman in White number 23 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time", and the novel was listed at number 77 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2014

About the author

Many popularly successful musicals of British composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber include Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), Evita (1976), and The Phantom of the Opera (1986).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_...

Reviews

[Debbie Guzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though the Women in White uses antiquated language and sentence structure, once you get hooked into the plot, the tale flies. As a big fan of the Dickens, Bronte's, Poe and Lovecraft, I am thoroughly enjoying this mystery and the view of that time and place. The strong, female, main characters, adds to the uniqueness of the story. Each woman raised under the thumb of men has her spine tempered by love of family. Each woman in their own way has a strong moral code, the men overuse and abuse their power, except in a very few cases. Woman in all her phases is explored by Collins, both dark and light. Man also is seen at his best and at his mostly devilishly beguiling. If you enjoyed any of the above authors you will delight in this book.

[Lisa Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see why this book was a sensation in its time, especially given that it was serialized, so people had to wait to find out what would happen next. It also illustrates the damaging effects coverture had on women and the oppressive way asylums were used to "treat" the behavior of outspoken women.

[Virginia Serna · Rating 4 out of 5]

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