Preface To 
The Woman In White OnLine Edition
By Stephen Bray

(webmaster)

The `Woman In White` is a masterpiece of Victorian literature. Published in England in 1860, the year of The Great Exhibition by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collin's novel was the first to introduce many familiar genres.

Firstly, Collins spell-binds us in a suspense mystery through the narratives and perceptions of several different characters, with vastly differing personalities. It must have been a pleasure to meet this one by one as the story was originally serialised nearly 150 years ago.

Secondly, the plot is intricate and involves such mellifluence as an unhappy arranged marriage, cruelty, deceit, drugs, embezzlement, forgery, kidnap, Mafia like organizations, and a Master of Crime.

Thirdly, and remarkably much of the story is written through the diary of Marian Halcombe, an unprepossessing spinster who is possessed of superb intelligence, moral character and guts. Collins gives a good account of all of these virtues, yet is easily able to have us believe that it is a woman's hand, rather than his, behind her pen.

He achieves this by describing such details as the changing of her clothing as much as via her conversations. But in her conversation it is clear that her devotion to her beautiful sister, and one of the victims of the plotting, is probably exceeded by her devotion to Walter Hartright the story's male hero who is the man who shares her courage and intellectual but who will never fullfil her physically, even though on their initial meeting he reports:

"I was struck by the rare beauty of her form, and by the unaffected grace of her attitude. Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on her shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place, it filled out its natural circle, it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by stays."

Fourthly, such was the popularity of the book that several entrepreneurs took to adapting both its name and its plot to other purposes. It was adapted for the theatre in the year it was serialised and several products for women were branded as 'The Woman In White'. In this sense it was a pathfinder to today's popular merchandising.

Finally, whilst many books have come and gone `The Woman In White` has been repeatedly reinterpreted for the stage, films, television and recently a musical has been produced from it. You may read about all these at this website.

The Woman In White Online

This part of the web site reproduces the original book as nearly as is possible. All the chapters are headed as Wilkie Collins named them, but the menu has been altered to be slightly more descriptive in order to aid your ability to navigate the text.

I truly hope that you will enjoy your visit this 'The Woman In White' website. Please tell your friends about it, and visit often.

Truly yours,,

Web Master

P.S. Did you know that in addition to reading 'The Woman In White' on-line we also have available three different versions of the text?

The Academic Package contains two versions. The first is a PDF delightfully typeset to provide you with maximum reading pleasure through ease to your eyes. The second is the version ideal for printing with maximum economy. It has numbered paragraphs for easy reference for academics and students of the genre and period.

The Publisher's Package contains both versions from The Academic Package plus a fully editable version of the text, software to aid your editing, links to the resources I used to create this website and a host of other features.

You may read about both 'The Academic Package, and The Publisher's Package of 'The Woman In White' by Wilkie Collins here.