The Woman in White

Wilkie Collins, 1860

Victorian novels Gothic and ghostly Detective fiction

Several witnesses assemble an account of events that ordinary legal processes have failed to resolve.

Read the book Contents

Length: 62 chapters
Reading time: About 17 hr 6 min
Words: 244,169

Dedication1 min
Preface to the Present Edition3 min
The Story Begun by Walter Hartright of Clement’s Inn, Teacher of Drawing
Chapter 11 min
Chapter 26 min
Chapter 315 min
Chapter 414 min
Chapter 54 min
Chapter 612 min
Chapter 713 min
Chapter 826 min
Chapter 99 min
Chapter 1014 min
Chapter 1112 min
Chapter 1214 min
Chapter 1324 min
Chapter 1412 min
Chapter 1519 min
The Story Continued by Vincent Gilmore of Chancery Lane, Solicitor
Chapter 116 min
Chapter 217 min
Chapter 317 min
Chapter 48 min
The Story Continued by Marian Halcombe, in Extracts from Her Diary
Chapter 129 min
Chapter 227 min
The Story Continued by Marian Halcombe
Chapter 124 min
Chapter 226 min
Chapter 327 min
Chapter 424 min
Chapter 517 min
Chapter 637 min
Chapter 724 min
Chapter 822 min
Chapter 929 min
Chapter 105 min
The Second Epoch
The Story Continued by Frederick Fairlie, Esq., of Limmeridge House31 min
The Story Continued by Eliza Michelson, Housekeeper at Blackwater Park
Chapter 131 min
Chapter 238 min
The Story Continued in Several Narratives
Chapter 1: The Narrative of Hester Pinhorn, Cook in the Service of Count Fosco10 min
Chapter 2: The Narrative of the Doctor1 min
Chapter 3: The Narrative of Jane Gould1 min
Chapter 4: The Narrative of the Tombstone1 min
Chapter 5: The Narrative of Walter Hartright8 min
The Story Continued by Walter Hartright
Chapter 14 min
Chapter 227 min
Chapter 314 min
Chapter 420 min
Chapter 512 min
Chapter 611 min
Chapter 722 min
Chapter 822 min
Chapter 921 min
Chapter 1030 min
Chapter 1113 min
The Third Epoch
The Story Continued by Mrs. Catherick22 min
The Story Continued by Walter Hartright
Chapter 16 min
Chapter 221 min
Chapter 311 min
Chapter 410 min
Chapter 517 min
Chapter 611 min
Chapter 722 min
The Story Continued by Isidor, Ottavio, Baldassare Fosco; Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Brazen Crown, Perpetual Arch-Master of the Rosicrucian Masons of Mesopotamia; Attached (In Honorary Capacities) to Societies Musical, Societies Medical, Societies Philosophical, and Societies General Benevolent, Throughout Europe; etc. etc. etc.
The Count’s Narrative23 min
The Story Concluded by Walter Hartright
Chapter 112 min
Chapter 27 min
Chapter 33 min
Endnotes1 min

About the book

The narrative begins by explaining why a story must be told outside a court of law. Walter Hartright then recalls a summer when poor health, low spirits and limited money had narrowed his plans, before unfamiliar circumstances drew him beyond his usual life.

Collins gives the account the shape of testimony, passing responsibility between people able to describe particular parts. That form asks readers to consider the position and knowledge of each speaker. Suspense grows from the effort to connect separate observations, as private experience encounters inequalities of money, authority and credibility.

On these lists

Victorian novels Gothic and ghostly Detective fiction

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Wilkie Collins died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK. Includes the original dedication, preface to the present edition.