Synopsis "The Woman in White"

THE WOMAN IN WHITE: - is a novel by Wilkie Collins. Published initially in a serial form under the title of All the Year Round, this novel was turned into book form in 1860. Highly appreciated for its plot and characterization, the novel brought Collins great name and fame. A decade later, he made it into a play. Inspired by an actual criminal case, this dramatic tale is told through multiple narrators. Widely considered as one of the earliest examples of crime fiction, this is the story of what a woman's patience can endure, and what a man's resolution can achieve.A long but very rewarding book, the Woman in White is densely plotted with a memorable cast of characters. The novel begins with Walter Hartright's encounter with The Woman in White on a moonlit London road. Soon, Walter is embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his friend Count Fosco who is cunning, intelligent and extremely evil. He is also portrayed as a fascinating and dangerous villain, turning this novel as a blend of Gothic horror and psychological thriller. In short, it is a dark and chilling tale that readers will enjoy to the hilt.

Wilkie Collins

(Author)

View Author's Page

(London 1824-1889) Playwright, novelist, and prolific short story writer. At 17, he started working at a tea trading company while writing Ioláni, or Tahiti as it was (Gothic no. 32), a work that was not published until over a century after his death. He studied Law and, although he never practiced, he did use his legal knowledge in many of his works, and critics consider him one of the fathers of the detective genre. In 1851, he met Charles Dickens, with whom he formed a deep friendship and published his main works in his weekly All the Year Around. After Dickens' death in 1870, his popularity waned. He suffered from rheumatic gout which eventually led to an opium addiction. His tombstone epitaph highlights him as the author of the novel The Woman in White.

See less