The Woman in White (Penguin Popular Classics) [Paperback]

The essentials of the story are as follows: our hero is a young painter hired as tutor to a young heiress. The lady in question is remarkably pretty, innocent, sweet-tempered (etc etc) and inevitably our hero falls for her hook, line & sinker. Needless to say the path of true love doesn't run smoothly and not only are they separated, but the heiress is subject to the wicked plots of marvellously nefarious villains.

Sounds cheesy as anything, I know; but the story is fast paced, convoluted and frequently (intentionally!) very funny. Because Collins employs a first person narrative technique, telling his tale through one character's diary then another one's letters, we are allowed an insight into the thoughts and speech patterns of a wide range of characters. Some of them are downright hilarious - particularly our heroine's outrageously camp uncle. As so often happens, it is the secondary (and indeed bit-part) characters who are the most entertaining - the fabulous Marianne (just wait till you read that initial description of her appearance! The contrast between standards of beauty now & then is remarkable...although granted it sounds like she needed immac for that top lip of hers) and the indomitable Count with his pet white mice scampering around, to name my two favourites - and undoubtedly your own. What are you waiting for?

If you want a book with love, romance, mystery and an undercurrent of the sinister running through it I promise you will not be disappointed. You will then be so hooked by Wilkie Collin's writing style that you will want to devour the rest of his books immediately.

Each character will capture your heart or your contempt as you follow this dark tale. You are immediately drawn into sympathy with them as they unfold their mystery as you, the reader, does. They are among my most favourite characters ever.

The structure of the book means you get precise and detailed accounts of everything, so there is no chance of missing anything important in the mystery. It does ensure you are a part of every moment. I love Marian's diary entries.

The book is thick(er than some) and the pages are thin, but Collins' prose moves you along at such a pace. Everytime I picked it up I said "only 10 or so pages" and I ended up 100 pages into it once again and a cold cuppa next to me.

There is a hefty intro and endless asterisk throughout with notes in an appendix. Don't read these till you finish the book as they give stuff away you don't want to uncover before Walter or Marian does!!

Also, the narrative of Mr Fairlie is the most hilarious chapter I've ever read. I COULD NOT stop laughing. Every sentence just got funnier. Perhaps it was just relief from the darker mood of the book, (which is of course its objective) but it was so funny. Mr Fairlie is a highly entertaining character and Collins' quirky prose excels when writing him.

I keep trying to get people to read this beautiful story, but they see it and go "oh no..." but please, dally no longer and buy it. It's an absolute bargain for 1.50! You get a fantastic, harrowing, gripping story that will stay with you for years. Forget this month's magazine and invest in The Woman in White. It's worth it.