Classics Group Read (pre 1900) - The Woman in White - May 2015 - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Paul]

Spoilers are allowed in this thread. Please unselect 'Add to my update feed' so other don't see your comments.
Things to consider:
1. Did you like the book?
2. Did you like or dislike the main characters?
3. Do the characters develop?
4. What did you think of the plot and the ending of the story?
5. Do you have any particular favourite quotes or scenes?
6. Would you read anything else by this author?

[Saffron]

This is one of my all time favourite books, I read it about 6 years ago and remember being completely hooked on all of Marians activities. She is such a strong character for a woman when you look at when this story was written. Yes as a modern woman it is annoying that the only way a Lady could be seen as strong was if she was ugly but we are talking about a time in history.

I do find it strange that people cannot distinguish a book written 150 years ago and a modern book. I was shocked to read so many comments on the reviews where people hated the book because it was sexist. Well that was the time the book was written, that is how women were treated, this is the whole point of the story. If Laura and Marian had been Men they would have inherited everything on their Uncles death. The law was awful and biased against women full stop. Was Collins being sexist with regards to Laura? No, he was highlighting a big issue. Yes his description of Marian was not a western modern day view, but she is by far the strongest female character in a Victorian story I have ever read, however for me, these stories highlight how far the world has moved on.

Anyway enough of that! The story was an exciting page turner, the Count so very wonderfully dastardly and Sir Glyde so utterly evil they are a perfect duo of villains.

At first I though Walter to be a bit too wet to be able to get his head around what these two were up to but of course Marian was there helping out of her total devotion to her sister.

The twists and turns are wonderful, the downfall of the evil duo very fitting, I really enjoyed the fact that Count Fosco was tracked down by a secret society. (Did Collins ever write more about him, his early escapades would have been a great read?) And the ending was totally fitting and tied up beautifully.

Not sure if I will have the time to read this again this month but I would definitely re-read it again. I read the Moonstone directly after this and even though I enjoyed it unlike most people I prefer the Woman in White. I also read the Haunted Hotel which was good too but not a patch on this one.

Enjoy everyone.

[Sandy]

I read this a few months ago and I agree with your comments Saffron. I'm guilty of reading material and thinking- this is really sexist. I guess you have to consider the time frame and the norms of society when the novel was written.

I think the excellent writing and plot twists are a good reason to read this book.

[Saffron]

Sandy wrote: "I read this a few months ago and I agree with your comments Saffron. I'm guilty of reading material and thinking- this is really sexist."

It is difficult sometimes Sandy, I couldn't finish Scoop by Evelyn Waugh because it was so sexist and racist, just too much, even though I kept telling myself 'that's how it was back then' it just seemed to be every comment in that one though.

[Pink]

I finished this a couple of days ago, listening on audiobook. I started out just listening to an hour a day, but after about 4 hours (total book was 24 hours) I was completely hooked and raced through it. I thought the start and end were a little long winded at times, or perhaps I just didn't enjoy the narrative of Walter Hartright as much as the middle stories. Overall I really enjoyed this and it was so much better and different to what i was expecting. For some reason I thought it was going to be a ghost story and I envisioned it being like The Turn of the Screw, but of course it wasn't at all. I loved the characters of Laura and Marion and thought they were depicted very well for women of the time. The chapters with the count were exciting and reminded me of later Sherlock Holmes stories. I plan on reading The Moonstone in a couple of months time and I'm really looking forward to that one now as I believe it also has multiple first person narration.

[Sandy]

I thought Moonstone was good too!

[Kelly]

I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. I liked how Wilkie Collins told the story through each of the different characters - although I'd like to have had a chapter or two from Lady Glyde. In my opinion the sister/Hartwright trio was interesting and since reading the book (and chatting about it with my book club ladies) I've started to wonder if Hartwright was in love with both Laura and Marian? One's brains and another's beauty? Did he end up getting the best of both worlds? I see a lot of similarities between Laura and her 'wet blanket' uncle too and I wish she'd had a bit more to her. Despite figuring out the twist and being a tiny bit disappointed by Count Fosco's comeuppance I would say this is probably one if my favourite books to date!