The Woman in White

De: Wilkie Collins

Narrado por: Ian Holm

Exclusively from Audible

Late one moonlit night, Walter Hartright encounters a solitary and terrified woman dressed all in white. He saves her from capture by her pursuers and determines to solve the mystery of her distress and terror.

Inspired by an actual criminal case, this gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness and mistaken identity has never been out of print since its publication and brought Collins great fame and success. Considered to be among the first mystery novels and the first and finest in the genre of 'sensation novels', The Woman in White is noted for its suspenseful plot and unique characterisation.

Collins's use of multiple narrators drew on his legal training and he states 'the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness'.

In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer ranked The Woman in White number 23 in the top 100 greatest novels of all time. The novel was also listed at number 77 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

Charles Dickens was a close friend and mentor of Collins, and the two collaborated together on drama and fiction. The Woman in White, as well as some of his other work, was first published in Dickens' journals.

Narrator Biography

Sir Ian Holm, is a star of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who has played more than 100 roles in films and on television, whilst receiving a stream of awards and nominations. His television debut came as Richard III on the BBC's filmed theatrical production The Wars of the Roses (1965). One of his best-known roles is Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (1981). He has also starred in The Fifth Element (1997), From Hell (2001), The Aviator (2004) and as Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. He has provided voice-overs for many television documentaries including 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (2009), starred in the BBC's The Lord of the Rings radio dramatisations and narrated many audiobooks. In 1989 he was appointed CBE and in 1998 was knighted for his services to drama.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

19thcentury mystery

Very interesting first half and then twists and turns of plot follow fast and furiously. Long winded and repetitive in a few places in the second half, still interesting in the early detective stories.

A great story not just an obligatory classic!

This book will appeal to fans of mysteries and especially of the Gothic novel like THE MONK or JANE EYRE. The great Ian Holm was a great reader making a lengthy novel full of many characters flow seamlessly since each chapter shifts perspective. Books such as this help one to learn patience since the storytelling reveals itself gradually.

Wonderful book

Loved this book. I will read it again. learned about it from the Pendergast novels.

Fantastic Reader!

This is a good mystery, but I don't think I would have READ it. However, I enjoyed the narrator immensely and he did a good job. The mystery is engaging, the characters are diverse; some are excellent, others not so interesting. I picked this book because it was classed as a book for readers who like Dickens. However, the characters are not nearly as memorable as any of Dickens personalities. I did enjoy it, glad I listened to it, and highly recommend this version with the reading by Ian Holm.

What a difference a good narrator makes!

I almost gave up on this book (with a different narrator - I wrote a brief review) and decided to give it a chance with a different narrator. Given the number of versions, it was not simple to decide, because the versions with multiple readers only provide a sample of one of the readers. I took my chance with Ian Holm and was rewarded with a "page-turning" experience. He was superb, and because of his narration I almost rated the story itself a 5, better than I actually think it deserves. Not that it wasn't a good story - it was excellent, but there are some flaws. The flaws are that some of the plot devices were quite obvious, and you are just waiting until the characters in the story figure them out. The narrator does such a good job of sounding suspenseful, that you are almost fooled into expecting a real surprise, but there are only a few surprises in all the "mystery". And then, the book does not have the depth that a true 5* book has, so I left it at 4. But it is a fun ride, and Ian Holm is a super companion to take it with. I would listen to other books by Wilkie Collins,

What a fantastic book!

I loved everything about this book and the narration. 100% recommend. I was surprised by how modern the take on marriage and women’s rights it was considering when it was written. Looking forward to checking out more Wilkie Collins.

Classic

It’s long. It’s complex. But it’s worth one’s time. Enjoy the vocabulary and the characterization!

Wonderful and remarkable!

Quite remarkable truly! I recommend this book highly. A wonderful opportunity to go back in time and enjoy the customs, lifestyle and the creative writing skills of a genius.

I love this author's detail

This is the second book I've listened to by Wilkie Collins. I was so impressed with his detailed characters in The Moonstone, and really enjoyed it. I am pleasantly surprised to like this book even more. Again, great detailed characters, and I loved the story. Excellent performance by the narrator.

Worth the time to listen!

Delightful! Some characters you love and some you love to hate! That-and a mystery, Excellent narration! What more could you want!