Considered the greatest 'sensation' novel' of the Victorian era, discover the rare glamour of the classic story The Woman in White.
The Classic - The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
CrimeReads described the influence of The Woman in White (published in 1859) best as “the common ancestor to crime, thriller, and suspense novels.” Wilkie Collins became a grandfather of thrillers for his traditional use of plot twists and reverse expectations.
Read a preview of The Woman in White.
The Woman in White
by Collins, Wilkie
An embattled inheritance, accusations of madness, scheming villainy, and much more tie into the labyrinthine plot of one of the most celebrated and sensational novels of the Victorian era.
A young man just beginning a new job in London meets with a strange woman on a moonlit road, offers her assistance getting into the city and then finds she may have just escaped an asylum. Hidden connections are unveiled between the family that employs the young man and the mysterious woman, pulling the reader into a suspenseful web of plots within plots, theft, betrayal, mistaken identities and attempted murder. Punctuating his dramatic narrative with sharp suspense and sudden moments of revelation that provide shock and understanding in equal measure, Wilkie Collins was pioneer of the literary thriller. In 1859, when serialized in Charles Dickens magazine, All the Year Round, crowds lined up to buy each installment of The Woman in White. Modern readers will be grateful to have the entire text at hand as the author's remarkable storytelling skills retain their power to ensnare, enchant and keep the pages turning toward the unpredictable conclusion.
With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Woman in White is both modern and readable.
Our Modern Companion - Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
This week, we've paired The Woman in White with Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel Shutter Island. Also taking place around an asylum, we think you'll find many similarities to our classic.
Read a preview of Shutter Island.
Shutter Island
by Lehane, Dennis
This New York Times bestseller is an arresting psychological thriller in which two U.S. Marshals hunting for an escaped mental patient unveil a nightmare world of CIA drug trials, Nazi-inspired eugenic work, and repressive mind control.
In the year 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate an unexplained disappearance. Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept under constant surveillance in a locked, guarded cell. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on the island, hints of radical experimentation and covert government machinations add darker, more sinister shades to an already bizarre case. Because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems...
Discover more classics and their modern companion each week.