THE BOOK CORNER

The Woman In White

By Wilkie Collins

I read this book in one day, a day where no classes were attended, no phone calls were taken, and no visits made. I cooked and ate my food with it in hand, and sometimes damned my inability to read faster, I was so eager to find out what was going to happen next.

The Woman In White is not just one of the most engaging and gripping Victorian novels I have ever read, it is one of the most engaging and gripping novels of all times. Collins creates vivid, memorable characters (ranging from brae intelligent Marian to the surprising and sinister Count Fosco) who are engage in a plot that twists and turns like nothing else. There are so many unexpected, even shocking incidents, and Collins moves between them with exactly precise yet graceful and beautiful prose. Not only that, his narrative style, which moves from character to character, allows for fantastic comic interludes which break up the drama (the chapter from the point of view of the hypochondriac uncle is gut-busting funny).

A couple of people I know, who are generally not fond of 19th century literature, love this book. I have never met someone who has not been charmed by it. I strongly urge anyone and everyone to read it.

Review by Michael B. Collins