"The Woman In White" by Wilkie Collins (published 1859)
Wilkie Collins’ novel The Woman In White has themes that may seem cliché: love conquers all, the truth will always come out in the end, people with an air of superiority usually have something to cover up… as Alexander Pope once said, “Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.” Collins’ The Woman In White proves that, and is everything but cliché. This lengthy masterpiece of a novel is part sensation novel, part mystery, part social commentary, and of course, like every good story, part romance. It is a book that probably should be read slowly so as to savor every idea and emotion offered by this talented writer. And to read this novel slowly is exactly how it was read in 19th century England, when Collins submitted his story, chapter by chapter, week by week, to Charles Dickens’ magazine, All the Year Round. Victorians consumed this novel like starving animals from the year 1859-1860. This was a time of excess and pleasure, and “grandiose” performance (Sweet, Introduction)...