The Woman in White

By: Wilkie Collins

Narrated by: Ian Holm

Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Late one moonlit night, Walter Hartright encounters a solitary and terrified woman dressed all in white. He saves her from capture by her pursuers and determines to solve the mystery of her distress and terror.

Inspired by an actual criminal case, this gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness and mistaken identity has never been out of print since its publication and brought Collins great fame and success. Considered to be among the first mystery novels and the first and finest in the genre of 'sensation novels', The Woman in White is noted for its suspenseful plot and unique characterisation.

Collins's use of multiple narrators drew on his legal training and he states 'the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness'.

In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer ranked The Woman in White number 23 in the top 100 greatest novels of all time. The novel was also listed at number 77 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

Charles Dickens was a close friend and mentor of Collins, and the two collaborated together on drama and fiction. The Woman in White, as well as some of his other work, was first published in Dickens' journals.

Narrator Biography

Sir Ian Holm, is a star of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who has played more than 100 roles in films and on television, whilst receiving a stream of awards and nominations. His television debut came as Richard III on the BBC's filmed theatrical production The Wars of the Roses (1965). One of his best-known roles is Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (1981). He has also starred in The Fifth Element (1997), From Hell (2001), The Aviator (2004) and as Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. He has provided voice-overs for many television documentaries including 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (2009), starred in the BBC's The Lord of the Rings radio dramatisations and narrated many audiobooks. In 1989 he was appointed CBE and in 1998 was knighted for his services to drama.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What a GREAT voice to make a good story great!

Love the history behind this piece, too. Check out the wiki on it. It took me a while to catch on to the old English, but it was fun. Great listen!

An amazing journey through victorian intrigue

A most stupendous story !!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the performance. I highly recommend if you enjoy mysteries and intrigue, not just sappy love stories, which I do not enjoy myself.

Lots of twists, turns, and tension!

If only today’s writers were as good!  So many of today’s writers, revert to profanity and explicit descriptions of intimate activities that are clearly not necessary in a clever and well articulated work of fiction.  I was so captivated by and involved with the characters that at one point I had to google the ending first to make sure I could endure the it.  Very good! 

Outstanding story and narration

Outstanding story. Narration was superb. I didn't listen to other versions before selecting this one but I don't think I could have done better. I will look for other books read by this narrator. It encompassed mystery, suspense and romance. Great Victorian style writing

Fabulous every second. Best 24 hours!!

Honestly the most beautiful listen in every sense. Stunning. Sad it's come to an end

Phenomenal

Have been recommending this to everyone I see. The plot is gripping, the language is witty, and the characters are nearly life-like.

Amazing

I absolutely loved this book. it kept me on toes and predicting wrongly! Which is not something that happens to be very often.

Well worth the length

What a superbly written novel.
The plot is one I will study for years to come.

Interesting Mystery

This book was very interesting. There were several moments where I was left on-edge. I really liked this one and recommend it!

Very interesting story!

This was veeeery long and I thought somewhat convoluted/repetitive in spots but in the end I enjoyed it very much. The style of narrative by the author was interesting. Narration was first class. Highly recommend.