I finished "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins a few days ago. It was fantastic! I wish I had written this post as soon as I had finished reading it because I was just so thrilled by that book.
I don't know why the character Marian Halcombe is not as well known as Elizabeth Bennett. She's just as smart and spunky as Elizabeth. If I ever need to invent a name for myself at a party, I shall call myself Marian Halcombe. She's my hero.
And she's not the main character of the story. Well, I guess you could say she was one of the two main characters. Anyway, she helps drive the male character on to find out the solution to a mystery.
I don't want to give it away, so I hope you go read it and enjoy it as much as I did.
I'm now reading "The Moonstone" by Collins. I loved that book when I was younger. Reading it back to back with "The Woman in White," I find it pales in comparison. "The Woman in White" is so much better. Mostly because of the spunky Marian Halcombe.
But "The Moonstone" has its charms as well. Collins structures both novels as narratives written by different characters. They only tell parts of the story that they learned first-hand. So you get the different pieces of the story from different people. And in different tones and narrative voices. Very clever. Plus, some characters mistake what they see or hear. And you don't learn the truth until another character tells his or her story. Very clever.
"The Moonstone" is the book for Monday's book group. I wonder if the other ladies are enjoying it. I love those books that are about mysteries or dramas or comedies set in 18-19th Century England. Jolly good!
Well, I have about 150 more pages of "The Moonstone" to read before Monday. Might as well settle down on the couch and fall back into the book. Couldn't think of a better thing to do on a cold Saturday morning. Later.
I don't know why the character Marian Halcombe is not as well known as Elizabeth Bennett. She's just as smart and spunky as Elizabeth. If I ever need to invent a name for myself at a party, I shall call myself Marian Halcombe. She's my hero.
And she's not the main character of the story. Well, I guess you could say she was one of the two main characters. Anyway, she helps drive the male character on to find out the solution to a mystery.
I don't want to give it away, so I hope you go read it and enjoy it as much as I did.
I'm now reading "The Moonstone" by Collins. I loved that book when I was younger. Reading it back to back with "The Woman in White," I find it pales in comparison. "The Woman in White" is so much better. Mostly because of the spunky Marian Halcombe.
But "The Moonstone" has its charms as well. Collins structures both novels as narratives written by different characters. They only tell parts of the story that they learned first-hand. So you get the different pieces of the story from different people. And in different tones and narrative voices. Very clever. Plus, some characters mistake what they see or hear. And you don't learn the truth until another character tells his or her story. Very clever.
"The Moonstone" is the book for Monday's book group. I wonder if the other ladies are enjoying it. I love those books that are about mysteries or dramas or comedies set in 18-19th Century England. Jolly good!
Well, I have about 150 more pages of "The Moonstone" to read before Monday. Might as well settle down on the couch and fall back into the book. Couldn't think of a better thing to do on a cold Saturday morning. Later.
