A fully slowburn Victorian Dickensian mystery, one of those which you have to like the sound of the above to love this book

'Double double toil and trouble'

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4/5 stars

What was the most engaging, the truly unputdownable part of this mystery fiction for me?

Certainly the deepening secret about the eponymous Woman in White.
Undoubtedly, the writing of so minute atmospheric descriptions and the drawing of psychological portraits imbued with the scent of the passing of time, told from a distant future, pervading the text with unmistakable notes of nostalgy, and possibly regret concerning past events, now fatally come and impossible for the narrator to remedy.

All in all, I have been unaccountably more drawn in by the promise - or my personal interpretation thereof - than I was compelled by the development of the plot, its intricacies and the whole allure of detective story it vested later, rich in retellings, and fully developped subplots, and manuscripts quoted in manuscripts. I do love polyphonic novels usually, but as much as I relish reading epistolary stories, and though an avid reader of stories within stories, in the reading of this book, I discovered in me a natural cap not to be nonchalantly disregarded, under penalty of ominous groaning at the redundancy and sheer ungainliness of the whole matter :D

A clearing in the dreary bog of the development in the third to fourth quarter of the book would be the moment when the painter and main narrator Walter Hartright tries and collect evidence against the sinister Percival Glyde, discovering on his way to the church the extent and purposeful malevolence of the network of spies of the haughty baronet... It oddly reminded me of the climaxes in The Shadow over Innsmouth, Desperation or Adjustment Team when everything, be it potential or actual, proves to be another menace heaped on the hero.


Quotes:

'little did I think afterwards when our pleasant holiday had drawn to an end – that the opportunity of serving me for which my grateful companion so ardently longed was soon to come; that he was eagerly to seize it on the instant; and that by so doing he was to turn the whole current of my existence into a new channel, and to alter me to myself almost past recognition.'



'The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared. Sympathies that lie too deep for words, too deep almost for thoughts, are touched, at such times, by other charms than those which the senses feel and which the resources of expression can realise.'



'It is easy to turn everything into ridicule [...] but you will not find it quite so easy, Count Fosco, to give me an instance of a wise man who has been a great criminal.'
The Count shrugged his huge shoulders, and smiled on Laura in the friendliest manner.
'Most true!' he said. 'The fool's crime is the crime that is found out [...]. If I could give you an instance, it would not be the instance of a wise man.'


'I am a citizen of the world, and I have met, in my time, with so many different sorts of virtue, that I am puzzled, in my old age, to say which is the right sort and which is the wrong.'


'I have always cultivated a feeling of humane indulgence for foreigners. They do not possess our blessings and advantages, and they are, for the most part, brought up in the blind errors of Popery. It has also always been my precept and practice [...] to do as I would be done by. On both accounts I will not say that Mrs Rubelle struck me as being a small, wiry, sly person of fifty or thereabouts [...].'


'4. THE NARRATIVE OF THE TOMBSTONE'

[verbatim!]


'From that self-imposed exile I came back, as I had hoped, prayed, believed I should come back – a changed man. In the waters of a new life I have tempered my nature afresh. In the stern school of extremity and danger my will had learnt to be strong, my heart to be resolute, my mind to rely on itself. I had gone out to fly from my own future. I came back to face it, as a man should.'


Similar readings:

Fiction:
Wuthering Heights
The Turn of the Screw
La sombra del viento
The Secret Agent
Le Père Goriot
Преступление и наказание
The Caretaker


Non-fiction:
The Republic
Natural Right and History

Victorian mystery/thriller; a thickish volume, but an easy read. Different sections narrated by different protagonists - innovative in its day. A rather big coincidence is crucial to the plot (and some lesser ones), but such contrivance is not unusual in the genre. Double doses: 2 heroes, 2 villains, 2 victims, 2 country houses etc and enough twists etc to keep it interesting.

Ochocientas ochenta y ocho páginas tiene mi edición de “La dama de blanco” y en ningún momento el libro me aburre o deja de mantener el suspenso de todo lo que sucede alrededor de esta impresionante novela escrita tan magistralmente por Wilkie Collins.
Son pocos los autores que pueden darse el lujo de lograr lo que Collins genera en sus novelas. Muchos aseguran que es una de las cinco mejores novelas de misterio jamás escrita y de hecho aseguran que su otra obra maestra, “La piedra lunar” la acompaña.
Wilkie Collins, un maestro de la novela de suspenso, dramaturgo y ensayista y además socio literario de otro gigante, Charles Dickens, logró fama y éxito a partir de "La piedra lunar" y se transformó en uno de los principales referentes de un género que hoy se sigue leyendo en todo el mundo y que adquiere adeptos en forma constante y sostenida.
La trama argumental de la novela es clara y aparentemente simple: “El joven profesor de dibujo Walter Hartright viaja a Cumberland para dar clases a dos jóvenes y ricas herederas, las hermanas Laura y Marian Fairlie. Laura se enamora de el pero los agradables días en Limmeridge House acaban con la llegada del prometido de Laura, Sir Percival Glyde. Este alberga la intención de arrebatarle toda su herencia y cuenta con la ayuda del siniestro conde Fosco para llevar a cabo sus planes. Solo se interpone en su camino una misteriosa dama vestida de blanco que, al parecer, ha escapado de un sanatorio mental..."
Narrada de forma similar a "La piedra lunar" a partir de testimonios, cartas, diarios y notas, el argumento de "La dama de blanco" gira alrededor de cinco personajes bien determinados: la hermosa Laura Fairlie, posteriormente lady Glyde, de su marido, el inescrupuloso y taimado sir Percival Glyde, del conde Fosco, un oscuro y tenebroso conde italiano que influencia a Percival y lo controla todo. Estos dos harán lo imposible para quedarse con la fortuna de Laura, pero ella no estará sola y tendrá quienes la ayuden y defiendan ante la injusticia: su hermana Marian Halcombe y el profesor de dibujo Walter Hartright, de quien a principios de la novela Laura se enamora.
Un toque más de maestría introduce Wilkie Collins en todo este entramado de misterio y es la aparición de Anne Catherick, una supuesta mujer escapada de un sanatorio mental que dice posee un secreto que puede desenmascarar el pasado de si Percival Glyde. El sólo hecho de incluir este elemento prácticamente al principio de la novela lo cambia todo y a partir de allí logrará que el lector se mantenga atento a todo lo que surja más adelante. Nunca, en ningún capítulo del libro ese interés decae, porque otros factores argumentales también influyen para mantener la intriga de cómo puede terminar todo.
Cuando parece que ya está la verdad a la vista surgen otros inconvenientes que le dan la vuelta de tuerca a la trama y eso es lo que pasa en las últimas cien páginas del libro.
Todo el desarrollo de la novela está centrado en tres lugares bien definidos que son la localidad de Limmeridge, en la mansión donde comienza a narrar la historia Walter Hartright, luego en Blackwater Park donde transcurren gran parte de los sucesos más importantes y también en la localidad de Cumberland, sede de distintos "descubrimientos" que Walter y Marian Halcombe realizan.
Cabe destacar que Wilkie Collins sabe cómo meterse en la piel de cada personaje. Puede ser un tipo inescrupuloso y despiadado como sir Percival Glyde, peligroso y ventajero como el conde Fosco pero también dulce y sensible tal es el caso de Laura Fairie o meterse dentro de la piel combativa de una mujer con todas las letras: Marian Halcombe.
Y por supuesto, Anne Catherick, la dama de blanco que le da el nombre a la novela, que es el personaje clave de todo este embrollo y que será quien haga encajar todas las piezas de un rompecabezas muy complejo ideado por el autor. Cada una de sus aperciones fantasmales harán que toda la escena cambie, alimentarán la intriga y provocarán una giro en la narración que no estaba contemplado.
Párrafo aparte para la encendida defensa que Collins hace de la mujer y de sus derechos ya en el año 1850 y de cómo, sin utilizar el término "feminismo" deja bien en claro lo que representan en este mundo las mujeres. Eso es algo a lo que presté mucha atención durante la lectura de muchos pasajes del libro.
Wilkie Collins escribió una excelente novela, tal vez, un peldaño por debajo de "La piedra lunar", pero no por ellos menos intrigante.
Repito, no es fácil sostener un suspense de casi novecientas páginas. Genialidades como ésta solo están destinadas a escritores tan únicos como Wilkie Collins.

i love old-timey horror. their idea of what's scary is like, A Cupboard Shutting or A Lady With The Right To Vote

«Η γυναίκα με τα άσπρα» γράφτηκε το 1850 και θεωρείται το πρώτο βαθιά αισθηματικό λογοτεχνικό έργο μυστηρίου και αγωνίας.

Είναι ένας θησαυρός Βικτωριανής κουλτούρας με άψογη και πρωτότυπη τεχνοτροπία γραφής.

Άριστα δομημένοι χαρακτήρες, κοινωνικές συνθήκες και τρόποι συμπεριφοράς, κρυμμένα κίνητρα, άθλιοι ήρωες, ηθικές, εκκεντρικές και καθόλου αφελείς ηρωίδες.
Αυτά είναι τα κύρια συστατικά με τα οποία ο συγγραφέας ξεκινάει να διαμορφώνει τη δημιουργία του.

Η μεγαλοφυΐα και η ικανότητα του συντελούν στην εκπληκτική εξέλιξη και πλοκή προσώπων και γεγονότων για ένα αποτέλεσμα που ανατρέπεται συμπερασματικά ως την τελευταία σελίδα.

Δεν χρειάζεται να φανταστείς τους χαρακτήρες, την οπτική τους παρουσία, τα ενδότερα πνευματικά και ψυχικά τους στοιχεία, ούτε καν τους τόπους, τα μέρη, τους χώρους που διαδραματίζονται όλα.
Η περιγραφική του πένα σου αποκαλύπτει εξαιρετικά και σε πραγματικό χρόνο ό,τι μπορείς ή δεν μπορείς να φανταστείς.
Το στυλ του ξεκάθαρο, σαφές, συνοπτικό, χωρίς υπερβολικές καταγραφές, εύκολο και τρομερά ενδιαφέρον.
Προσελκύει εθιστικά την ανάγνωση και τραβάει όλο και πιο βαθιά σε αγωνία και απρόσμενες αποκαλύψεις απο το ένα κεφάλαιο στο άλλο.
Διατηρώντας παράλληλα χαρακτήρες και πλοκή σε μια ουσιαστική ροή χωρίς σύγχυση.

Τα βικτωριανά μυθιστορήματα φημίζονται για την εξέλιξη των χαρακτήρων τους και το συγκεκριμένο δεν αποτελεί εξαίρεση, αποτελεί μια εκπληκτική πορεία δράσης όπου τα φαινόμενα πάντα απατούν και ανατρέπουν δεδομένα που ίσως να ήταν αυτονόητα.

Πολλοί αφηγητές που πήραν μέρος στην ιστορία μυστηρίου και αγάπης εξιστορούν ο καθένας απο την δική του οπτική γωνία πως βίωσαν τις καταστάσεις σε προσωπικό και κοινωνικό επίπεδο.

Οι αφηγήσεις τους δεν είναι σε σωστή χρονική σειρά πάνω στην πραγματική ιστορία, μα ειναι διαδοχικές απο πρόσωπο σε πρόσωπο κι αυτό ειναι ενα ακόμη στοιχείο μη αναρρωτικής αγωνίας.

Έχουν περάσει 168 χρόνια απο τη στιγμή που δημοσιεύτηκε κι όμως, αυτό το τεράστιο χρονικό διάστημα δεν είναι πουθενά αποτρεπτικό.

Η βικτωριανή εποχή ενισχύει τους σπουδαίους χαρακτήρες οι οποίοι με τη σειρά τους είναι τόσο πραγματικοί που μπαίνουν σε συγκριτικά με ανθρώπους της σημερινής εποχής.

Δεν θα αναφερθώ στην ιστορία του βιβλίου, αυτό πρέπει να το βιώσει ο κάθε αναγνώστης ως προσωπική εμπειρία.
Ωστόσο απο τους ήρωες ξεχώρισα και θαύμασα την προσωπικότητα του Κόμη Φόσκο.
Πόσο ιδιοφυής πρέπει να είσαι για να χτίσεις έναν τέτοιο πρωταγωνιστή.
Ο Φόσκο είναι ένας κακοποιός που αποτελεί μια απο τις πιο θαυμάσιες λογοτεχνικές δημιουργίες.
Μια μάζα αντιφάσεων ουσιαστικά και μεταφορικά.
Ένας άψογος ραδιούργος, αριστοκρατικά τοποθετημένος στην αστική τάξη που τον ενισχύει σε κάθε επιδίωξη του.
Ο Κόμης Φόσκο, ένας άνδρας με αξέχαστη φυσιογνωμία, οξυμένη αντίληψη, πνευματώδης, καταρτισμένος, θύτης ανηλεής και θύμα ερωτικής κρίσης.
Βρίσκεται πάντα ενα βήμα μπροστά απο τις ενέργειες των ηρώων και φαινομενικά μπορεί να ειναι δισυπόστατος σε ψυχή και σώμα.

Είναι ο κακός που αγάπησα, ο αδυσώπητος και σκληρός τυχοδιώκτης που λάτρεψα. Πραγματικά μέχρι το τέλος δεν κατάφερα να τον μισήσω όσο κι αν προσπάθησα.
Σε αντίθεση με τους καλούς χαρακτήρες που με άφησαν συναισθηματικά αδιάφορη.

Σε ολόκληρο το βιβλίο - δεν παίζει κανεναν απολύτως ρόλο ο όγκος των σελίδων - ξέρουμε πως συμβαίνει κάτι πολύ κακό... μα σε αντίθεση με τα παραδοσιακά μυστήρια των βιβλίων που αναζητάμε τον ένοχο, εδώ έως το τέλος ψάχνουμε όχι μόνο το ποιος το έκανε, μα και το «τι έκανε».

Ένα διαβολικό παραμύθι με τραγικές εξελίξεις που ακούγεται απο διάφορες και διαφορετικές φωνές.

Μια κλασική αναγνωστική εμπειρία, μια μαρτυρία χτισμένη με αγάπη, φιλία, καλές και κακές οικογενειακές σχέσεις, τρόμο, μυστήριο, προδοσία, ψυχολογικά παιχνίδια, πίστη, συμπόνοια και έντονη γοτθική αίσθηση. Απόλυτα ισορροπημένα και εναλλασσόμενα ώστε να μη φθείρονται μέχρι τέλους.

Το απόλαυσα, το θαύμασα. Με αντάμειψε, χαρίζοντας μου πολλά περισσότερα απο ό,τι μπορεί να υποσχεθεί ένα μυθιστορημα.


Χρόνια Πολλά!!!

Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.

I'm not sure what I can say about this book that hasn't been said already. It's fantastic, in every sense of the word.

Click here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend.

n  n

A mysterious tale spun by a writer with a penchant for drama and a lawyer's practicality. The Woman in White will tickle readers who enjoy books where the truth lies hidden beneath the biases of characters who deliver their version of the story through a first-person narrative.

An epic tale of love,betrayal,deception and revenge.

I generally don't read Victorian novels,but Wilkie Collins' masterpiece is among my favourite books. It is atmospheric,dark,complex and haunting. Despite its sheer length,I found it unputdownable. I liked it sufficiently,to read it all over again,a few years later.

The characters are memorable.There is the upright Walter Hartwright,who strives for justice, the beautful Laura Fairlie,the resourceful Marian Halcombe,the cunning Count Fosco,the unfortunate Anne Cathrick and the dishonest,Percival Glyde.

The technique is interesting. The story is told through mutiple narrators,letters and diary entries.
The sustained tension, superb characterization and a masterfully constructed plot make it memorable.
Fittingly,Wilkie Collins wanted his epitaph to read,"Author of the Woman in White,and other works of fiction."

EXCERPT: 'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth, stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter becomes embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.

MY THOUGHTS: There is some beautifully evocative writing at the start of the book that had me almost salivating. It was promising a deliciously creepy read. . . that never happened.

I believe that The Woman in White was first published as a serial in 1859, which may explain it's interminable length. Yes, I have read longer books, and enjoyed them, but the Woman in White seems even longer than its 672 pages. It could easily do with losing at least one third of its length. There is so much irrelevant information thrown at the reader that I completely missed out on the connection between Laura Fairlie (Lady Glyde) and the ill-fated Anne Catherick until, frustrated at the end (but oh so glad to be there!) I turned to the Internet to search for the information.

The story itself has many narrators, which Collins himself points out in the preface, and so we get multiple versions of the same story to little effect, a little like listening to the witnesses in a court case where they are all determined to present themselves and their motives in the best possible light.

The characters are largely vapid (insipid, uninspired, colourless, uninteresting, feeble, flat, dead, dull, boring, tedious, tired, unexciting, uninspiring, unimaginative, lifeless, zestless, spiritless, sterile, anaemic, tame, bloodless, jejune, vacuous, bland, stale, trite, pallid, wishy-washy, watery, tasteless, milk-and-water, flavourless).

The story itself, when cut down to its bare bones, is rather clever and focuses on the lack of rights of married women at the time. Honestly? I would love to see this rewritten by Stephen King because, other than the first encounter between Walter Hartright and the woman in white, there is no creepiness whatsoever and I fail to understand how this can be classified as Gothic Horror.

4,5 αστεράκια

This is one of the greatest books I have read in my life. The book is my first Wilkie Collins and I’m really glad to have finally come across him, for he has won a place as one of my favourite classic authors. Collin’s writing is admirably rich with poetic phrases and a good flare for vocabulary. Although his prose is a little long winding, he nevertheless has well managed to keep the reader’s attention on the story by his amazing ability at storytelling. There is also a cinematic quality to his writing. The events such as the first meeting between Walter Hartright and the woman in white, the first instance a vague resemblance between woman in white and Laura Fairlie comes to Walter’s mind when she walks on the terrace in the illumination of the moon, Marian’s brave conduct of climbing over the roof to listen to the hideous plan of Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde, Laura’s subsequent abduction and false imprisonment in the Asylum under the false guise of Anne Catherick, the meeting of Laura and Walter over Laura’s false grave, the fire in the vestry where Sir Percival was trapped and rescue efforts being taken by Walter Hartright, the impatient ride Walter takes to meet Count Fosco, were described in such a manner that it was as if you are seeing them rather than reading of them.

A novelty I experienced while reading this great book was Collin’s mastery in dominating over your mental faculties. Normally when I read a book, it engages with my own mental interpretations as I read along. But the reading experience of this book was so different. Collins never allowed my own mental interpretations to come into the light. He held them tight to his story and convincingly too, that I was unable to wander on my own.

“The story here presented will be told in more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness-with the same object, in both cases, to present the truth always in its most direct and most intelligible aspect”. This phrase from the preamble sets the pace for the story justifying the use of several narrators to tell it – their reliability varying in degree. This is yet another new experience for me, hearing the story from so many different narrators. And I felt it is a refreshing method to have the story told through different persons, given the length of the book. This served two purposes; one was avoiding the reader from being bored with the story and the other is to avoid it being biased.

There were a hero and a heroine in the characters of Walter Hartright and Marian Halcombe. Their struggle to bring justice to Laura Fairlie, their dear beloved, who was the victim of a most horrendous crime, the courageous and perilous journey both of them, especially Walter takes on, to achieve this end certainly reflects the opening phrase of the preamble when it was said “This is the story of what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what a Man’s resolution can achieve”. I liked these two characters immensely and was connected with them instantly. I was with them through every step of the way of their difficult and dangerous journey collecting the necessary evidence to bring justice to a wronged woman. I also liked the character of Laura, the young innocent victim, who bore such vile cruelty with a calm resolution of her own. Then there are the villains: Sir Percival Glyde – an epitome of brutality and Count Fosco – the most sinister character that I have thus far come across with his cold, calculating, and brilliant brain. All these dark and dear characters contributed to the plot of the story to make it one of the best classic stories I have ever read. The book which is a pioneer in the sensational novel was a great success in its time and I believe still is which in itself accounts for its greatness.

I simply loved the book. Reading it was such a pleasurable experience. 5 full stars and a place among my favourite-classic shelf is what I can offer in return for so satisfying me.