The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I began reading this book because of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of this book.  I am a huge Michael Crawford fan, and he was in the musical in England.  I even have the soundtrack.  I had listened to the soundtrack once, but of course, I didn’t understand it.  I had read a couple people’s reviews of the story, and I thought I should give it a try.

I began reading this, and it did not begin slowly as so many classics do.  I used to joke that classics were always slow for the first 50 pages.  It was rare to find one that captured your attention from the beginning.  I think this one captured me almost from the beginning.  Wilkie Collins puts you right into the midst of the story, and you, as the reader, are not even truly sure of what is going on.  You want to keep reading.

My two favorite characters were Marian and Count Fosco.  (That is actually ironic.  You’ll have to read the book to catch my meaning.)

I liked Marian because she was such a strong woman.  I love it when male authors–especially the classics–are able to write about strong women who really impact the story.  And yet she remains feminine in spite of it all.  The only sad thing is that she never marries.  It’s the wimpy Laura who gets married and has a child.  Go figure.  I guess strong women back then didn’t get married.  At least according to Wilkie Collins.

I enjoyed the character of Count Fosco because he was so devilishly evil and yet so likable.  I kept imagining how Michael Crawford would have played the part–he would have been ideal.

I truly enjoyed the mystery in the book.  I did not have everything figured out–there were so many layers and twists and turns!  Goodness!  Easily the best mystery I have read in ages.

I would say the only reasons someone would not like the book is that it is long, and it is written in Victorian language instead of our modern-day lingo.  I would recommend this as a mystery and as a classic.  I look forward to reading more Wilkie Collins!

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Wilkie Collins was born on 8 January 1824 and died on 23 September 1889. In those 65 years he wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, at least 14 plays, and more than 100 non-fiction pieces. A close friend of Charles Dickens from their meeting in March 1851 until Dickens’s death in June 1870, Collins was one of the best known, best loved, and, for a time, best paid of Victorian fiction writers. But after his death, his reputation declined as Dickens’s bloomed. Now, Collins is being given more critical and popular attention than he has for fifty years. Most of his books are in print – and all are now in e-text – he is studied widely, and new film, television and radio versions of some of his books have been made. All his known letters have been published. And new book length studies of his work or life appear frequently. But there is still much to be discovered about this superstar of Victorian fiction. (reprinted from http://www.wilkiecollins.com/)