The Woman in White
Unabridged Large Print Edition
by Wilkie Collins
Widely regarded as the first mystery novel in the English language and a forerunner of modern detective fiction, The Woman in White, published in 1860, opens with a chance encounter on a moonlit country road in England between a mysterious woman dressed in white and Walter Hartright, on his way to Limmeridge House, the country mansion where the eccentric Frederick Fairlie has arranged for Hartright to teach drawing to his nieces, the half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie.
At the approach of a carriage the woman vanishes into the darkness and Hartright accepts a ride the rest of the way to Limmeridge House. Hartright falls in love with Laura, a wealthy heiress with an uncanny resemblance to the mysterious woman he encountered on the road. But Laura has pledged to marry Sir Percival Glyde. Hartright departs Limmeridge, the wedding takes place, and the mystery deepens when Laura returns from the honeymoon, moody, morose and melancholy. The enigmatic Count Fosco, a friend of Sir Percival, casts a sinister shadow as secrets unravel and the truth is revealed, and Hartright returns in an attempt to save the sisters and expose the dark mystery surrounding Limmeridge House. Continue reading “The Woman in White [Large Print]”