I listened this book too close on the heels of Dickens' Dombey and Son. There is some similarity in the themes that makes me want to run towards some different genres for after this.
The story is mysterious enough and I speculated on some of the possible motives of the characters. If you listen to this version of the book read by Rogers Rees, you might do well to do as I did and drop the speed to 95%, otherwise Hartwright's narratives sound completely breathless!
I need to sort my reading pile into serialized fictions and stretch them out a bit. It doesn't devalue the novel at all, but I'm sure I will increase my enjoyment by slowing down.

The woman in white não foi exatamente o que esperava, mas ainda assim gostei de ter lido. Primeiramente o formato dele foi diferente de mistérios como de Arthur Conan Doyle ou Agatha Christie de forma inesperada para mim. O livro é composto de testemunhos escritos e entradas em diários utilizados como evidência em um caso judicial contra os vilões do livro, Sir Percival Glyde e, a mente por trás do crime, o italiano Conde Fosco. O livro foi um mistério bem construído, nesse caso a pergunta não era “quem matou?” mas sim qual o mistério de Sir Percival e porque ele internou a personagem Anne Catherick  em um asilo para doentes mentais. Também qual o mistério que Conde Fosco temia? O livro teve bastante originalidade para época, apesar de achar que foi um pouco longo demais. Esse tamanho com certeza fez com que o livro se arrastasse em algumas partes. Especialmente porque por muito desse livro enorme tudo dava certo para os antagonistas e tudo dava errado para os protagonistas, o que me fez sentir como se eu simplesmente estivesse lendo a história de como esses vilões triunfariam e os protagonistas seriam injustiçados. Isso me deixou desconfortável com a narrativa durante um tempo porque não queria ler esse tipo de história.

Porém, felizmente, próximo ao final o livro teve uma virada e os mistérios começaram a ser revelados e os planos dos vilões foram frustrados, mesmo que não inteiramente, já que eles conseguiram roubar a fortuna de Lady Laura. Mas Laura teve sua identidade, que havia sido roubada, restaurada e casou com seu verdadeiro amor Walter Hartright. A forma como Walter venceu Conde Fosco foi um pouco conveniente demais, mas depois de um livro tão longo estava disposta a aceitar isso. A obra teve sucesso em criar alguns antagonistas realmente odiosos como o tio de Laura Frederick Fairlie, ele era hipocondríaco e egocêntrico e, mesmo não intencionalmente causando o mau, seu egocentrismo e falta de consideração por outros o tornaram odioso. Conde Fosco foi um excelente e odioso vilão, com certeza um dos personagens mais inteligentes e ardilosos que li até hoje. Um terceiro personagem que quero destacar esse, porém não é odiosa, é Marian Halcombe, a meia irmã de Laura e, junto com Walter, sua principal defensora. Marian é personagem que me dá sentimentos conflitantes, por um lado ela é extremamente inteligente, prática, determinada e coloca o bem-estar de sua irmã acima de qualquer coisa. Elementos que a tornariam um excelente personagem feminino especialmente por ter sido escrita por um autor homem em 1859. Mas por outro lado Marian tem muita misoginia e sexismo internalizados e em várias ocasiões diminui e difama a si mesma na condição de mulher e a mulheres em geral. Isso torna difícil para mim enquanto mulher me apegar a Marian inteiramente, pois ela não vê que ela mesma é uma prova viva contra tudo que ela acredita a respeito das mulheres como um todo. Apesar de por muito tempo a situação parecer sem esperança o livro teve um final feliz, demasiadamente conveniente, mas feliz.

Foi um mistério original para época e vejo porque é um clássico. Meu desfrute da história teve altos e baixos, mas no geral acredito que a experiência foi positiva. Pela história ter sido diferente do que esperava, com diferentes mistérios a serem revelados, com um vilão inteligente e ardiloso até mesmo para os padrões modernos e por ter feito tudo isso já em 1859 dou 4 estrelas.

This book is INCREDIBLY slow. Also count fosco is FAT FAT FATTIE. HIS FAT FACE FATTILY EATS CROISSANTS.

It's no The Moonstone, but this was still great. Not as funny and it took a while to get going, but some great twists and mysteries. I adore Marion (although Wilkie Collins seems to think all competent women spend their time lamenting not being as brave or intelligent or good at drawing as men, which... ok bro). 

I didn't know what this book was about when I decided to read it. I had no idea it was a mystery or that I would enjoy as much as I did.

My only problems with this book are the ones I have with older books like this and it's mainly the way women are portrayed and treated. But, as I said I understand because of the time period. My other problem with older books like this is the rambling aspect. Two chapters of nothing but explanations and useless rambling could in all reality fit on 1 page. 

Despite the few issues I had, I rather actually enjoyed the two part mystery. Mystery one of who is the Woman in White is and later on the mystery involving Laura Fairlie were both on their own interesting but the way the author combined them was very well done. You have characters you like/love and characters you absolutely hate (if you read it you know who I mean) and it's done in a way that you have a real reason for disliking them. 

Anther problem I had with he book was some of the revels. I felt very confused by a couple of the big revels and had to look up what was actually happening because the language and hidden meaning completely flew past me.

I would recommend the audiobook. The narrator has a soothing voice that is honestly perfect for the story in my opinion.

 

TITLE—The Woman in White 

AUTHOR—Wilkie Collins 

PUBLISHED—1860 

 

GENRE—gothic literature; “sensation novel”; epistolary format in multiple POVs 

SETTING—Victorian era England 

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—mental illness, lunacy & institutionalization; misogyny & Patriarchal oppression & manipulation; Romanticism; female agency; oneiromancy (dream prophecy/divination); epistolary format; commentary on human nature 

 

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

BONUS ELEMENT/S—Reading this parallel to John Harwood’s The Seance was a stroke of excellent luck! Highly recommend! 

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

 

Whew this is a long one, but quite readable! Once I got the hang of the Victorian writing style (which isn’t my usual thing) I enjoyed the book immensely and couldn’t put it down. There is something about Collins’s writing style that is a little humorous, almost tongue-in-cheek feeling in spite of the heavy, tense topics and plot. 

 

I loved the political undertones of the writing and his characters were phenomenal: incredibly unique and visceral representations of truly complex people who are at once very realistic and relatable and also a bit unusual and in some cases a bit larger-than-life seeming. Marian Halcombe was an easy favorite but Walter Hartright was also very lovable and Fosco and Mr. Fairlie were just entertaining AF—oh and Mrs. Catherick! Usually when secondary characters—especially villains—like that “have their say” in epistolary narratives or multiple POV narratives I get a little bored with the story but Fosco’s, Mr. Fairlie’s, and Mrs. Catherick’s POVs ended up being some of my favorite parts of the book. They are also the characters that seemed a bit larger than life—flamboyant, but without the modern connotations of that word. 😅 (I actually read that the character Fosco from this book was the source of Oscar Wilde’s Oxford days nickname as well. 😂 Love that. ❤️) 

 

<SPOILER>I also loved how the build up to the climaxes and endings belied the reality of what the actual situation of the story was, though hidden from the reader (and the characters, mostly). It was such a trip of the imagination to speculate about Percival’s “Secret” and the reason behind Mrs. Catherick’s complicity and Anne’s fate etc. etc. and then when all is revealed it’s as though Collins is saying: What? These are humans. What did you expect? As chaotic as the events in the narrative are and how often they bordered on the extreme—indeed, even the supernatural at times?—in the end it was all down to just very much the simple reality of human nature.</SPOILER> 

 

Honestly I’m still kind of surprised this book was written by a Victorian English cishet man. Obviously a very liberal-minded man as any bestie of Dickens is likely to be but wow. He depicted the true horror of the Patriarchy in a way that I just wouldn’t have guessed a man of that era would have truly seen let alone understood. Props, my dude. 

 

Overall a really satisfying read both in terms of the story, the characters, the philosophy, and the deeper commentaries on human nature. 

 

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

TW // graphic, upsetting dog death; all the usual sort of offensive content in English classic literature: fatphobia, misogyny, gaslighting, xenophobia, racism, classism (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!) 

 

Further Reading—