&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:The_Woman_In_White_-_Cover.jpg) Cover of first US edition | |
| Author | Wilkie Collins |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Mystery novel, Sensation novel |
| Publisher | All the Year Round |
Publication date | 26 November 1859 – 25 August 1860 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| OCLC | 41545143 |
| Preceded by | The Dead Secret |
| Followed by | No Name |
The Woman in White is Wilkie Collins's fifth published novel, written in 1860 and set from 1849 to 1850. It started its publication on 26 November 1859 and its publication was completed on 25 August 1860. It is a mystery novel and falls under the genre of "sensation novels".
The story can be seen as an early example of detective fiction with protagonist Walter Hartright employing many of the sleuthing techniques of later private detectives. The use of multiple narrators (including nearly all the principal characters) draws on Collins's legal training,[1][2] and as he points out in his preamble: "the story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness". Collins also drew on memories of his father, the artist William Collins, in the creation of drawing master Walter Hartright, and populates his story with a number of Italian characters, likely inspired by two years spent in Italy during childhood.
In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer listed The Woman in White number 23 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time",[3] and the novel was listed at number 77 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.[4]
- ^ Wilkie Collins (26 November 1887). "How I Write my Books". The Globe.
- ^ "Mr Wilkie Collins in Gloucester Place". Number 81 in 'Celebrities at Home', The World. 26 December 1877.
- ^ McCrum, Robert (12 October 2003). "100 greatest novels of all time". Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ "BBC – The Big Read". BBC. April 2003, Retrieved 18 October 2012