The Woman in White

  The Woman in White  by Wilkie Collins

I know this is one of those books that people really really love.  People in the lit blogosphere, characters in books, a lot of people real and fictional.  Sadly, I am not among them.  I really had to drag my way through this book.  the best character in the book is introduced in the most horrifying way!  Marian, the half sister of the perfect and lovely Laura Fairlie.  It's only Laura's love for Marian that keeps the poor girl from being homeless and destitute.  Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself, here.

I guess this is considered an epistolary novel, although it's not so much letters as legal witness statements and journal entries.  The narrative goes through a variety of characters, so you see the story play out through the eyes of whoever is in the thick of the action at the time.  Was this book revolutionary at the time it was written?  It didn't hold any surprises for me and I found nothing to like about it. I was so disappointed.  Other than Marian, who is pretty great, none of the characters really had me rooting for them. I didn't find the suspenseful parts very suspenseful and I didn't' think the payoff of the big reveal made any of it worthwhile.  I may just be griping about a perfectly good book, but when they don't work for me, they really don't work for me. 

My own presuppositions probably ruined this book for me.  I was so excited to read it after I'd heard or read it mentioned so glowingly.  By making much of the narrative be what seemed like part of the police file, or more like part of court proceedings on the incident (which shouldn't have existed in this matter as per the narrative itself), it was awfully dry.  Only when William Hartright tells his part of the story, what with him being all lovesick and passionate, oh, and Marian's tortured diary entries, do you get any feeling at all.  You've got some nasty noblemen and rotten family members who throw some wrenches in the works and depending on their stake in the matter the wrenches just gum up the works or are pretty mercenary and malicious. The whole woman in white/Laura Fairlie mystery, which should have been a big deal, considering the title of the novel and all, wound up just being a MacGuffin. 

So, all in all, I'm glad I've put this book behind me.  My newest Daily Lit is The Count Of Monte Cristo, and I'm hoping it lives up to the hype.

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