Classics Project Book #4: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White 
by Wilkie Collins

I am very behind in my Classics Project reading. Out of 50 titles I have only read 4, eek! I listened to The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins some time ago but hadn't had a chance to review it until now. The audio book was great. It was narrated by Ian Holm who is one of my favorite actors. He did a wonderful job with the narration and the different voices and his voice suited the book very well. However, I struggled with finding time to listen to it. I only had access to it on my iPhone and had no way to listen to it in my car without blasting my iPhone's speakers. This  made the sound quite terrible and on the highway I could barely hear it. So I would mostly listen to it on walks. It was over 20 hours and it took me so long to read. I dreaded abandoning the characters so many times. In hindsight I should have either listened to it on a CD rather than an Audible download or read my physical copy of it.

The Woman in White is a well-written mystery with a terrific cast of characters. I especially enjoyed spending time with Walter Hartright, his love interest Laura Firlie and her spinster sister Marian Holcombe. And of course the mysterious woman in white, Anne Catherick. I liked all the twists and turns the story took and the writing was elegant yet very simple and direct too. It made me more interested in reading other novels by Wilkie Collins. Collins is a favorite among many readers I know who are fans of classic literature. I think The Woman in White would be great to recommend to someone who is not familiar with the classics and wants to tackle a longer read that will capture their imagination.

I plan to read this again and to allow myself more time to read big chunks of it rather than it little snippets. It really took away from the experience. When I do read it again, I want to do a more thorough review!