BBC #77: The Woman in White

Published in 1859-1860, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is one of the first mystery and sensation novels. It is often applauded as being one of the greatest of it's kind. The novel is written in the form of statements, letters, and diary entries, and compiled by the editor and primary writer, Mr. Walter Hartright.

Hartright is drawing master who finds himself lucky enough to get a position at the Limmeridge house (somewhere in the country), tutoring two young ladies. Before he can leave London he meets a mysterious woman dressed all in white with connections with the Limmeridge house. Upon seeing her distress, Hartright helps her find a cab and sees her safely off. Only then does he run across two gentlemen asking about a woman in white who had escaped from an asylum. Thinking he's leaving the mysterious event behind him, Hartright heads to the Limmeridge house and meets the two ladies, Miss Halcombe and Miss Fairlie. The mystery of the woman in white does not stay in London, however, and very soon both young ladies and Mr. Hartright are drawn into the midst of it. The author then takes these pieces and twists and weaves them into a compelling novel.


This book drew no strong emotions from me. The villains mildly disgusted me. The hero I silently applauded. The main characters were vaguely interesting with only one character really appealing to me: Miss Halcombe. Since she was only a supporting character I even lost my emotional attachment to her.

These words should not dissuade anyone from reading this book. Mystery novels are not about the depth of character, they are about the story line and that was masterfully written. From the first line to the last it is full of surprises to keep your mind busily engaged while it works the real story out without you noticing.

While I think this novel is very well written, it will not end up on my "favorites" list. I read it, I enjoyed it, but I did not love it.

Random Read: The Scarlet Pimpernel

As much as I love modern books, the classics make my heart sing. Today's post is about one of my favorite books, one that I'm surprised didn't make it on the BBC's big read, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

I first fell in love with the Scarlet Pimpernel as a little girl, watching the old black and white movie with my mom. This love was reenforced as an adult watching the musical preformed by a small professional theater group. Today this love was cemented. As one of the characters exclaimed in the book, "We ladies think of him as a hero of old. ... We worship him...we wear his badge...we tremble for him when he is in danger, and exult with him in the hour of his victory." Such is my love for the Scarlet Pimpernel.

The book is as great as the man! As you may have surmised, the novel revolves around a man who uses the pseudonym "the Scarlet Pimpernel." While a scarlet pimpernel is a common English flower, the man is anything but ordinary. He risks his life to save the lives of French nobility during the French Revolution. All of France is trying to catch him and everyone in England worships him. No one save his trusted followers knows who he is.

"We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?--Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel?"
 (Sir Percy Blakeney)

The Scarlet Pimpernel is well woven with rich emotions and depth of character seen often in the classics and rarely in modern books. It made me laugh, it made me angry, it even made me cry and I rarely cry when I read books.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun classic. It will meet (or even exceed!) your expectations.

Random Read: The Hollow City

I first was heard of Dan Wells right after his first novel I Am Not a Serial Killer came out. Someone mentioned it in passing and I thought "hmm, maybe I should read that," before getting distracted by other books. A couple years later I moved to Orem and became acquainted with Dan Wells' daughter. I was floored when I realized my young friend's dad was a published author of a book I'd actually heard of. (Most people I know who have published books have self published and no one has heard of them or their books). I promptly bought his first book, devoured it, and instantly became a Dan Wells fan.

The Hollow City surpassed my expectations. It is not merely a good book, it's words are intricately woven together to form a masterpiece. And I'm not saying this just because I know the guy. I may know Dan Wells, but I know books better than I know him. I would read this book again in a heartbeat and I can't say that about most of the books I read.

The main character of the novel, Michael Shipman, has paranoid schizophrenia. His entire world is full of people, sounds, sights, even flavors that don't actually exist. He believes faceless men are chasing him, can't remember two weeks of his life, and very quickly becomes the main suspect in a series of murders involving people from his past.

The book is not only intriguing, it rings true. While not a paranoid schizophrenic, I was placed on an antipsychotic as a mood stabilizer at the beginning of July. This is the reason I didn't finish the book until today. I got to the section where Michael is placed on medicines and his symptoms were like a carnival mirror version of mine--distorted and larger but recognizably like mine. It was simply too much to read Micheal's journey while I was traversing my own. So I waited until my symptoms died down and today I picked up the book again. Note how I'm reviewing it the same day I read the second half. It was that good.

It's a twisting journey through the mind of a man who can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not. I highly recommend The Hollow City. It will make you question reality, think deeper than you have thought in a while, and entertain you all at the same time. Journey with Michael as he discovers not all the monsters in his head are fake and as he discovers the answer to the question "who can you trust if you can't even trust yourself?"