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The Woman in White (Enriched Classics)
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Manufacturer: Pocket
Author: Wilkie Collins
Publisher: Pocket
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $5.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Pocket
Author: Wilkie Collins
Publisher: Pocket
Average Customer Rating:
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The Woman in White (Enriched Classics) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9781416509790
ISBN: 1416509798
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 784
Publication Date: 2005-09-27
Publisher: Pocket
Studio: Pocket
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9781416509790
ISBN: 1416509798
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 784
Publication Date: 2005-09-27
Publisher: Pocket
Studio: Pocket
Editorial Review of The Woman in White (Enriched Classics)
One woman's journey through madness, murder, and mistaken identity -- a classic work of Victorian sensationalism.
• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information
• A chronology of the author's life and work
• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context
• An outline of the key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations
• Detailed explanatory notes
• Critical analysis including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work
• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction
• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience
Customer Reviews of The Woman in White (Enriched Classics)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Astonishingly Fun Read
Review: I had a favorite college professor named Harry R. Sullivan, and this was his favorite book. However I never took "Victorian Prose" under him, because his class on Trolloppe and Thackeray almost killed me. 30 years later, I attempted to read it, and the old boy was right. It is well-crafted and fast paced..for Victorian prose... I found myself carrying it around to get to the next chapter. A great mystery piece. I am a fan. Here's to you, Dr. Sullivan!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Journey Into the Past
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is, of course, written differently than the novels today. But that is a part of its appeal. The author descriptively paints a portrait with his words and I gladly stepped into the story. We read the book in our book club and everyone loved it. Give it a try and see if you like it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Review: I have read this for a book club. It took a few pages to get used to the 19th century writing, but when I did I have found it very enjoyable. The book is a trifle "wordy" however even that proves to be part of what makes it interesting. The plot is quite involved and not so realistic and yet I highly recommend it and I think it will be a great book club discussion.......
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: "Make 'em laugh, make 'em weep, make 'em wait, and make 'em come back."
Review: This advice for writing serial romances, alternately attributed to Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Charles Reade, is epitomized in this 1860 novel by Collins, a story of thwarted love, a marriage of obligation, claims on inheritance, the victimization of women, and, most of all, engaging mystery. Collins, often credited as the father of the mystery genre, creates a fast-paced story of Victorian England, revealing much about Victorian society and its values--the role of women, the laws governing marriage and inheritance, the social institutions of the day, the contrasting attitudes toward the aristocracy and the lower classes, and even the level of medical care and the treatment of psychological illness.
When drawing master Walter Hartright is on his way to teach Marian Halcombe and Laura Fairlie at Limmeridge House, in Cumberland, England, he meets a "woman in white," a young woman who knows Limmeridge House well because she was mentored by Mrs. Fairlie, Laura Fairlie's deceased mother. The "woman in white" is Anne Catherick, who looks just like Laura, but who is an escapee from a nearby mental asylum. Upon his arrival at Limmeridge House, Walter immediately falls in love with the beautiful Laura, but she has made a deathbed pledge to her father to marry to Sir Percival Glyde, someone Anne Catherick despises and blames for her own incarceration. Throughout the novel, Anne visits various characters to offer help in combating Sir Percival and his cohorts.
The story unfolds through documents held by a variety of characters, each of whom tells the story from his/her own point of view. The reader develops sympathy for the innocent and beautiful Laura, respect for her homely but bright half-sister, Marian Halcombe, sadness for Walter Hartright, and hatred for Sir Percival and his friend, the Italian count Fosco, with whom Sir Percival is in business. Sir Percival and the count need financing, and it is Laura's inheritance that is at stake. A series of consecutive disasters, along with arguments, revelations of abuse, the fear of exposure, and the contemplation of murder by Sir Percival and Count Fosco, draws the reader irrevocably into the action.
The characters are sympathetically drawn, with Collins showing an early awareness of the influence of psychology on behavior. The descriptions of nature, presented realistically and in minute detail, build suspense, as Collins creates parallels between nature and the details of plot. As is usually the case with romances, chance plays a huge role in the unfolding action, creating cliff-hanging suspense which contributes to the excitement--and pure fun--of this seductive novel. The conclusion, involving a subplot unrelated to the primary action, resolves issues conveniently. The almost-forgotten author of twenty-five novels, Collins was one of the most successful authors of Victorian mysteries, and he is gaining new attention as a result of reprints of this novel and The Moonstone. Mary Whipple
Review Summary: Astonishingly Fun Read
Review: I had a favorite college professor named Harry R. Sullivan, and this was his favorite book. However I never took "Victorian Prose" under him, because his class on Trolloppe and Thackeray almost killed me. 30 years later, I attempted to read it, and the old boy was right. It is well-crafted and fast paced..for Victorian prose... I found myself carrying it around to get to the next chapter. A great mystery piece. I am a fan. Here's to you, Dr. Sullivan!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Journey Into the Past
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is, of course, written differently than the novels today. But that is a part of its appeal. The author descriptively paints a portrait with his words and I gladly stepped into the story. We read the book in our book club and everyone loved it. Give it a try and see if you like it.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Review: I have read this for a book club. It took a few pages to get used to the 19th century writing, but when I did I have found it very enjoyable. The book is a trifle "wordy" however even that proves to be part of what makes it interesting. The plot is quite involved and not so realistic and yet I highly recommend it and I think it will be a great book club discussion.......
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: "Make 'em laugh, make 'em weep, make 'em wait, and make 'em come back."
Review: This advice for writing serial romances, alternately attributed to Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Charles Reade, is epitomized in this 1860 novel by Collins, a story of thwarted love, a marriage of obligation, claims on inheritance, the victimization of women, and, most of all, engaging mystery. Collins, often credited as the father of the mystery genre, creates a fast-paced story of Victorian England, revealing much about Victorian society and its values--the role of women, the laws governing marriage and inheritance, the social institutions of the day, the contrasting attitudes toward the aristocracy and the lower classes, and even the level of medical care and the treatment of psychological illness.
When drawing master Walter Hartright is on his way to teach Marian Halcombe and Laura Fairlie at Limmeridge House, in Cumberland, England, he meets a "woman in white," a young woman who knows Limmeridge House well because she was mentored by Mrs. Fairlie, Laura Fairlie's deceased mother. The "woman in white" is Anne Catherick, who looks just like Laura, but who is an escapee from a nearby mental asylum. Upon his arrival at Limmeridge House, Walter immediately falls in love with the beautiful Laura, but she has made a deathbed pledge to her father to marry to Sir Percival Glyde, someone Anne Catherick despises and blames for her own incarceration. Throughout the novel, Anne visits various characters to offer help in combating Sir Percival and his cohorts.
The story unfolds through documents held by a variety of characters, each of whom tells the story from his/her own point of view. The reader develops sympathy for the innocent and beautiful Laura, respect for her homely but bright half-sister, Marian Halcombe, sadness for Walter Hartright, and hatred for Sir Percival and his friend, the Italian count Fosco, with whom Sir Percival is in business. Sir Percival and the count need financing, and it is Laura's inheritance that is at stake. A series of consecutive disasters, along with arguments, revelations of abuse, the fear of exposure, and the contemplation of murder by Sir Percival and Count Fosco, draws the reader irrevocably into the action.
The characters are sympathetically drawn, with Collins showing an early awareness of the influence of psychology on behavior. The descriptions of nature, presented realistically and in minute detail, build suspense, as Collins creates parallels between nature and the details of plot. As is usually the case with romances, chance plays a huge role in the unfolding action, creating cliff-hanging suspense which contributes to the excitement--and pure fun--of this seductive novel. The conclusion, involving a subplot unrelated to the primary action, resolves issues conveniently. The almost-forgotten author of twenty-five novels, Collins was one of the most successful authors of Victorian mysteries, and he is gaining new attention as a result of reprints of this novel and The Moonstone. Mary Whipple