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  • The Woman in White

  • By: Wilkie Collins
  • Narrated by: Ian Holm
  • Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (171 ratings)

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The Woman in White cover art

The Woman in White

By: Wilkie Collins
Narrated by: Ian Holm
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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 listeners say about The Woman in White

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Your journey will be well rewarded

Your hesitancy to commit to a 12 hour listen, and particularly so when the narrative is written in the delightful but somewhat harrowing voice of the day, being mid 1800s, is well understood. But don't overlook this highly entertaining and quite suspenseful 'read' as i hope you, as did I, discovered a very absorbing and gratifying experience. The narrator presents the read with such tenderness and empathy as be a significant contributor to the pleasure I received.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superb... could not stop listening

Ian Holm's reading of this brilliant classic absolutely blew me away. The story kept me hooked to the last line!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Classic Wilkie Collins!

I read The Woman in White years ago, on the recommendation of a friend who shares my enjoyment of classic Victoriana.
On experiencing this work again, in Audible format, I am struck by 2 points:
-despite some of the tedious, inevitable cultural differences between the 19th century and the 21st century which pervade Collins' works, at his best, he often writes/wrote in a refreshing, almost contemporary tone;
- Ian Holm's narration is BRILLIANT! Seamless, smooth, elegant, perfect performance. Alas for our loss of this marvelous actor, narrator, hobbit (Bilbo Baggins), consumate artist - Holm's narration MADE this experience for me. Highly recommended for that aspect alone.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Arrgh!! Too slow

Need a dark quiet room to concentrate on this story. Gave up after 2 hours.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Utterly absorbing

This is an excellent Victorian novel with everything a reader could ever want - good, evil, love and sorrow - all shrouded a web of mystery, lies and deceit, and with more twists and turns than could be imagined.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Hiding under the bed sort of suspense...

I loved both the novel and this audiobook. Ian Holm's reading took a little getting used to, but he conveys the different characters really well, and the reading is consistent and easy to follow, despite Wilkie Collins' ponderous style. I find this a hugely evocative novel, and the few plot holes don't really matter beside the reader's desire for everything to turn out 'properly' for our characters. Highly recommended -- it's a lot of hours but you'll rip through them more quickly than you think. 'One more chapter' is something I said to myself often while listening... you've been warned!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

bit hard to follow

ok story but a bit hard to follow with the constant change of narrator. Reader is a bit monotonic and audio quality is not the best.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Language and performance

one of the best audio books I had the pleasure of listening to! Couldn't walk away.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An intelligent well developed mystery

It started slow but subtly wove the most interesting compelling mystery so well it was easy to visualise the characters, scenes and thread of the events. Not predicable & believable of society and language of that time. Well done!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant.

My introduction toWilkie Collins has been an absolute revelation. Perfectly written and narrated I can’t be left with any impression other than this novel is the genesis of all other psychological crime fiction I’ve ever read or seen portrayed on film.

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