From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Lady Vanishes

Ethel Lina White

Start date: February 1, 2019

Finish date: February 28, 2019

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our February group read.
[close] Winner of the poll for our February group read.

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Group reads

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What Members Thought

Mar 05, 2011 Bev rated it it was ok

Shelves: vintage-mystery, mystery, british-mystery, mount-tbr-2013, bought-2009

Here is another entry into the Book to Movie Reading Challenge (as well as a whole boat load of other challenges). Ethel Lina White's novel The Wheel Spins (1936) was snapped up by Alfred Hitchcock and transformed into The Lady Vanishes (1938). This is another of the very rare cases where the movie is better than the book. Or maybe it's just that once I find something in one medium I rarely like it better in another....I first watched The Lady Vanishes about 20 years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed Ma Here is another entry into the Book to Movie Reading Challenge (as well as a whole boat load of other challenges). Ethel Lina White's novel The Wheel Spins (1936) was snapped up by Alfred Hitchcock and transformed into The Lady Vanishes (1938). This is another of the very rare cases where the movie is better than the book. Or maybe it's just that once I find something in one medium I rarely like it better in another....I first watched The Lady Vanishes about 20 years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed Margaret Lockwood as Iris Henderson, a rich young Englishwoman who befriends a governess by the name of Miss Froy while traveling on a train through Europe. Mid-way on their journey, Miss Froy disappears and Iris cannot make anyone believe that the woman ever existed, let alone that she has vanished. Her fellow passengers blame Iris's "fantasy" a blow to the head that she had received earlier, but Iris knows that something is wrong. Gilbert, a musicologist and fellow passenger, is the only one who finally believes her and together the two piece together how someone could not only disappear into thin air, but have their existence erased completely as well.

The book is very slow-moving. The beginning, which I guess is supposed to drill firmly into the reader's mind how selfish Iris is, really doesn't seem to all that necessary--at least not in the length presented. And it takes a good half of the book to get to the real action--the disappearance of Miss Froy. There is good build-up of Iris's frustration and her feeling that perhaps she really is mad (as suggested by several passengers) She is far more on her own than in the movie--in the book, she appeals to a professor and his young friend, a linguist, but neither of them truly believe her the way Gilbert does in the film. The novel, as a whole, didn't hold me the way the movie did and it ended fairly abruptly. Hitchcock is a master and mixed just the right amount of humor with his suspense. He adds a few characters (such as Charters and Caldicott, the cricket enthusiasts) for color and tells a ripping good tale. He also adds a more detailed, action-packed ending to add a bit more excitement.

If you're going to do both--I would definitely suggest reading the book first. It's possible that a reader coming to the story in book-form first might have a greater appreciation for White's novel. I don't think reading the book first will dampen your enthusiasm for the film. Two and a half stars for the book. Four stars for the film.

This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks! ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was well done, building suspense and doing the whole woman-endangered-in-an-uncaring-crowd plot device brilliantly- and therein lies the rub for me. I was so distracted by the pull of memory I couldn’t remember as I read, have I seen the film, read the book before, or was it just that so many other books and films have parodied this classic? I couldn’t decide!

Either way, I’m very glad I read this one with the Reading the Detectives group - I know for sure now, I have read it! I found it fas ...more

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Sep 18, 2024 Annarella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, edelweiss, golden-age-mystery

I never read anything by Ethel Lina White and this was an excellent way to start reading her mysteries.
An intriguing and twisty story, it kept me guessing and trying to solve the puzzle.
A good whodunit featuring fleshed out characters and and a solid mystery
There're some parts at the beginning that could be talking about a contemporary influencer.
Iris is an interesting characters and Ms White an excellent storytelling ...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Laura Anne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-film-adaptation, travel-planes-trains-autos-boats, espionage, mystery, suspense-thrills-chills, europe

2025: 3.5 stars ELW's writing style isn't my favorite, but I love the story she created and will always watch or listen to an adaptation of it. (Three films and a radio-play, so far).

2012: I love the premise, but it felt like the BBC abridgement might have cut the few little extra details that would make this shine. I really need to get my hands on the paperback. ...more

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