The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins ~ my review

Mystery novel, The Woman in White, gripped me from its first few pages to its conclusion on page 647. When the novel began with “This is the story of what a Woman’s patience can endure and what a Man’s resolution can achieve” and commentary about different witnesses in a court of law, I could not have imagined the story to follow.

 

The first narrator, or witness, Walter Hartright, is a decent fellow, aptly named “heart right,” for wrongs committed render him chief detective, and he acts with honorable motives, even when it would be easier to bow to man’s baser instincts. One night early on, walking on a London road, Hartright briefly encounters a mysterious woman wearing all white, who becomes central to the plot. Soon Hartright accepts a job as a drawing instructor at a family estate in Cumberland, England, where he teaches art to half-sisters Marian Halcombe and Laura Fairlie. He falls in love with Fairlie but she is betrothed to a baronet chosen for her by her late father. The mysterious woman in white appears up in Cumberland to warn the Fairlie family about the evil character of the baronet. She seems to have a childhood connection with the family. Oh, and she just happens to resemble Laura Fairlie.

 

Next witness-narrator is the Fairlie family’s solicitor. After his account, the story continues with entries from Marian Halcombe’s diary, observations by the housekeeper, the cook, the woman in white’s caregiver, her mother, Laura Fairlie’s aunt’s husband, Count Fosco; finally, Walter Hartright wraps up the adventure. The slimy baronet turns out to be very evil; plus, he has a Secret to be covered at all costs. And his partner in crime, Count Fosco, is even more chillingly charming. Each narrator adds more clues to solve the multi-layered mystery, as well as additional rabbit trails to be followed.

 

Although this story takes place in 1850, it has hallmarks of modern murder mysteries—innocent people being followed, watched, and sometimes harassed, and innocent people doing their own spying. Add assaults on country roads, chase scenes, bogus charges and trials, victims drugged, double-crossing, secret identities. The Woman in White does not lack action. Its being 1850, conversation is civilized, often clever verbal sparring over tea.

 

Walter Hartright and Marian Halcombe are the brains combining all the puzzle pieces, and Hartright is the person traveling about England to pursue clues. At times his prodigious abilities in this sleuthing endeavor seem unlikely attributes of an art teacher, who as far as we know, has never solved crimes before, but I just roll with the author’s having blessed him with those gifts. Hartright and Halcombe both have sharp minds and a powerful motivation in their love for Laura Fairlie.

 

Of all Wilkie Collins’ characters in The Woman in White, I most enjoyed Marian Halcombe’s bright mind and street smarts, Count Fosco’s larger-than-life persona, and Walter Hartright’s single-minded devotion to the cause. Mr. Fairlie’s sniveling selfishness provides comic relief. I enjoyed Professor Pesca’s unique quirks, too. Collins paints colorful characters, and this is a thoroughly absorbing mystery.