The Woman In White

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gi... (more)

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. On a moonlit London night, art teacher Walter Hartwright meets a young woman {u2013} beautiful, terrified and dressed entirely white {u2013} alone on the street. Compelled to help this piteous creature, he finds himself caught up in a world of secrets, murder and madness, with an impossible mystery to solve. The odds seem stacked against him, but a sleuthing partnership with the brilliantly clever Marian Halcombe may be just enough to outwit their formidable nemesis {u2013} the menacing Count Fosco. One of the great mystery thrillers of the nineteenth century and beyond, The Woman in White is a wonderful combination of rich characterisation and cunning melodrama that ensnares the reader from the very first page. This beautiful Macmillan Collector{u2019}s Library edition of The Woman in White features an afterword by writer, editor and playwright David Stuart Davies. (less)

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The first and greatest sensation novel, a thrilling story of evil thwarted and love reclaimed The night before he leaves... (more)

The first and greatest sensation novel, a thrilling story of evil thwarted and love reclaimed The night before he leaves London for a temporary engagement in the North of England, drawing instructor Walter Hartright walks home on an empty, moonlit road. Suddenly a hand reaches out of the darkness and touches him on the shoulder. Terrified, he turns to find a woman, dressed all in white, who begs him for help in getting to a friend’s place in the city. By a strange coincidence, the woman knows Limmeridge House, the country estate to which Walter is traveling in the morning. Stranger still, she refuses to reveal anything else about herself, including her name. Only after he sees her safely into a cab does Walter learn the truth—the woman in white has just escaped from an insane asylum. In Limmeridge, Walter falls in love with one of his students, the beautiful and virtuous Laura Fairlie. An orphan in the care of her invalid uncle, Laura is engaged to Sir Percival Glyde, a baronet. She follows through with the marriage despite her feelings for Walter, but soon realizes her mistake. Sir Percival will stop at nothing to gain complete control of Laura’s inheritance, and his diabolical plot hinges on her astonishing resemblance to the mysterious woman in white. It is up to Walter and Marian, Laura’s devoted half-sister, to rescue fair Laura from a fate worse than death. With its shocking twists and spine-chilling suspense, The Woman in White charted a whole new course for popular fiction. Devilishly entertaining and deadly serious in its indictment of Victorian marriage laws that impoverished women, it is widely recognized as one the nineteenth century’s finest novels. This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices. (less)

A dark and humid night on a London highway ... a ghostly woman asking directions ... and the reader is away on a tale of... (more)

A dark and humid night on a London highway ... a ghostly woman asking directions ... and the reader is away on a tale of deceit, murder, madness, stolen identities and scheming cads, elaborate plots and outrageous coincidences, in the company of some of the most extraordinary characters in fiction. Hailed as a classic the moment it was written in 1859, The woman in white uses a dozen different narrators to tell the tale of a man's determination to save the woman he loves, in the face of the worst intentions of the sly Sir Percival Glyde and the magnificent Count Fosco. (less)

When Walter Hartwright encounters a solitary, terrified, beautiful woman dressed in white on a moonlit night in London, ... (more)

When Walter Hartwright encounters a solitary, terrified, beautiful woman dressed in white on a moonlit night in London, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress. The story, full of secrets, locked rooms, lost memories, and surprise revelations, features heroine Marian Halcombe and drawing-master Walter Hartright as sleuthing partners pitted against the diabolical Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde. This gothic psychological thriller, a mesmerizing tale of murder, intrigue, madness, and mistaken identity, has gripped the imagination of readers since its first publication in 1860. The breathtaking tension of Collins's narrative created a new literary genre of suspense fiction, which profoundly shaped the course of English popular writing. (less)

Artist Walter Hartright arrives at Limmeridge House to instruct wealthy half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie. Their pea... (more)

Artist Walter Hartright arrives at Limmeridge House to instruct wealthy half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie. Their peaceful lives are marred by a strange woman dressed in white, who brings disturbing warnings to the family. When Laura announces her engagement to the dashing Sir Percival Glyde, it seems the darkness haunting them is lifting. But new dangers lurk closer than ever, and the only hope for averting disaster lies with the secret held by the woman in white. (less)

Tells of a pair of half sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dr... (more)

Tells of a pair of half sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dressed in white. As the story unfolds, murder, love, marriage, and greed stand between the two women and happy lives. Their only hope is the secret the woman in white waits to tell them. (less)