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The Woman in White
The Woman in White
Jan 14, 2026 9:46 PM

Author:Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White

'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop ... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth ... stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'

The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.

The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Reviews

The tale is narrated in the first person by Rory, and with Arthur Darvill revisiting his role, this is a very effective reading. Evocative sound effects bring the scenes in the present, and Nadurniss’ past, vividly to life... a very welcome addition to the canon of Amy and Rory’s travels

—— Stephen Elsden , http://www.scifind.com

Engaging and smartly plotted

—— Observer

It's warm-hearted characterisation and deft pacing should make the paperback popular on next summer's beaches

—— The Sunday Times

Past Mortem confirms Elton as craftsmanlike, thoughtful and readable. Fans will find plenty to enjoy

—— Daily Mail

A writer who provokes almost as much as he entertains

—— Daily Mail

A brilliantly vivid piece of storytelling

—— The Scotsman

Atmospheric coming-of-age tale by one of Norway’s most renowned writers

—— Observer

The detail is perfect; the emotions are raw and beautifully conveyed

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Petterson’s novel is a compelling study… Petterson’s beautifully spare prose subtly captures the effort that comes with this seeming inaction, this lack of fight, providing us with a lens through which we come to see Audun’s grim inertia as a paralyzing struggle to forget the past and get on with the task of living

—— Observer

Beautifully crafted but undeniably bleak; its spare prose, mournfully succinct characterisation and disorientating chronology deliver an edgy read

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times

Melancholic

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

Covering the twenty years that turned Catherine the Great from a young bride on approval to the legendary Empress of Russia, Eva Stachniak's novel gives a magical insight into the hopes and fears that haunted the corridors of the St Petersburg palace. It brings alive the very tastes and textures of the mid-eighteenth century

—— Sarah Gristwood, author of Arbella and The Girl in the Mirror

An intimate portrait of 18th century girl-power

—— Independent

A wry moral tale exploring the little evasions and compromises of everyday life. Translator Agnes Scott does justice to Solstad’s measured voice

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

This short-but-striking novel quickly reveals itself to be…crime fiction, yes, but also a subtle and deeply introspective consideration of the inertia of lonely middle-age, its philosophy existentialist in the manner of Jean Paul Sartre, Ingmar Bergman and certain novels of Georges Simenon. The result is a highly complex and accomplished work

—— Billy O'Callaghan , Irish Examiner

Intriguing tale… Solstad expertly navigates the bizarre mind of a clever but lonely man locked in an existentialist nightmare

—— Telegraph

This is no straightforward crime novel…an exploration of guilt, inaction and moral quandaries

—— Nic Bottomley , Bath Life
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