davidnegrao

Although I've read in several places that Collins's main career achievement was essentially to invent the modern detective story in The Moonstone, I found The Woman in White by far the superior of the two novels. (In fairness, people don't generally fall over themselves in praise for The Moonstone as a novel so much as for depicting a new kind of sleuth.) This book is wonderfully written. Collins uses different narrators - perhaps eight altogether, but two or three main ones - and while he can't match David Mitchell for scope, the tone and composition of each is spot on, and the effect is perfect, not merely as a clever gimmick but as the means of relating the pieces of the puzzle. There is eeriness, suspense, romance, wonderful characterization, and beautiful prose, and on top of that it is well-plotted. Unless you simply don't like 19th century British literature, I recommend The Woman in White highly.

2022-10-13 07:57