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The Woman in White
The Woman in White
Jul 5, 2025 1:22 AM

Author:Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White

'The most popular novel of the nineteenth century, and still one of the best plots in English literature' Sarah Waters

Marian and her sister Laura live a quiet life under their uncle's guardianship until Laura's marriage to Sir Percival Glyde. Sir Percival is a man of many secrets – is one of them connected to the strange appearances of a young woman dressed all in white? And what does his charismatic friend, Count Fosco, with his pet white mice running in and out of his brightly coloured waistcoat, have to do with it all? Marian and the girls' drawing master, Walter, have to turn detective in order to work out what is going on, and to protect Laura from a fatal plot . . .

Reviews

The most popular novel of the 19th century, and still one of the best plots in English literature. Notable for its marvellous villains and, like all Collins's work, for its complex, spirited and believable female characters

—— Sarah Waters

The various women of the book - in white and otherwise - are wonderfully real

—— Elizabeth Kostova

To Mr Collins belongs the credit of having introduced into ficiton those most mysterious of mysteries, the mysteries which are at our own doors

—— Henry James

The Woman in White...is a stay-up-all-night page-turner from 1859 that rivals any thriller written since

—— Jennifer Egan, author of A VISIT FROM GOON SQUAD , Observer, *Summer Reads of 2023*

I dare you to find a first novel as self-assured, impeccably researched and beautifully rendered . . . Richardson paints a portrait of espionage that calls to mind early le Carré

—— Gregg Hurwitz , No. 1 bestselling author of Orphan X

Compelling, intense and sharply authentic

—— James Swallow , bestselling author of Nomad

A pleasingly convoluted spy saga . . . which combines immaculate Cold War tradecraft with modern tech savvy as our maverick hero comes up against a Le Carre-esque establishment while trying to find a mole and head off a terrorist atrocity

—— Sunday Times Crime Club

Truly authentic and frighteningly so . . . a remarkable thriller

—— Shot Magazine

Authentic, mysterious, fraught with deception, betrayal, and uncertain allegiances, it captures perfectly the foggy world of spies, populated by conspiracy and turncoats, both friends and enemies, an evocative descent into the Wilderness of Mirrors

—— Jason Matthews , author of Red Sparrow

Matthew Richardson's debut is a bang-up-to-date thriller told with old-school panache. A great read

—— Mick Herron , CWA Gold Dagger-winning author of Dead Lions

Elegant and assured, My Name is Nobody weaves a complex web of moles, double agents and tradecraft, brought right up to date by a fresh young voice . . . compelling spy fiction

—— Michael Ridpath , bestselling author of Amnesia

A supremely confident debut . . . This story is told with panache and a taste for spy craft that mark it as outstanding

—— Daily Mail

Told with panache and a taste for the intricacies of craft that mark it as outstanding ... Solomon Vine reminds me not so much of le Carre's Smiley, but rather Len Deighton's spy in his marvellous debut The Ipcress File. If he keeps going, Vine could be that good ... a supremely confident debut

—— Daily Mail

An absorbing, spine-tingling novel brimming with atmosphere.

—— Daily Express

a superb, compelling read

—— Woman & Home

Sirens immediately feels like a classic, not a debut . . . a book for every crime fan.

—— Julia Heaberlin, author of Black Eyed Susans

An amazing thriller. Sexy, stylish suspense.

—— A. A. Dhand

A dark, dangerous noir, Sirens will be one of 2017’s smash hit debuts.

—— Nick Quantrill

A down and dirty slice of Manchester noir . . . Impressively bleak.

—— Shots Magazine

Page-turner is the only word for it.

—— Press Association

Brooding, blistering. Sirens is a remarkable literary thriller, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and James Lee Burke

—— A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
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