Review by Shellie: Audio version of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

 

About the book:    Set near London around the mid-1800’s, an artist is traveling to his latest work assignment. On his way he sees a disturbing woman in white on the highway. He attempts to help her but is mystified when she disappears. Her connection with his life becomes apparent over time after he arrives at his destination. There he falls in love with one of the nieces of the household owner. She however is to be married shortly to a man who appear less than genial, creating conflict and angst. Things become convoluted as the plot is conveyed by different individuals that are involved in the happenings in this tale of deceit, murder, and apparent madness.

My Thoughts:    I did not realize that this edition was abridged until after finishing it, and perhaps would not have chosen this version if I had realized. I really enjoy listening to classics when exercising since they are often difficult for me to focus on when actually reading.

The audio version was lovely nonetheless. The narration was excellent - done by various speakers that had the gender, age, and class accents appropriate to the teller of each section; and they were of course done with wonderful English accents.

I was out of breath and shocked at some of the scenes, thought about the book between listens, and I did not guess what was going to happen next which is always a good sign. I also did not feel that the book was edited. I give this audio book 3.5 stars.  I recommend it as a great way to get into classics which may otherwise be difficult to read.

This audio book was rented from the local digital library and listened to on an iPod.

Audio Book Data:

Audio CD:

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks; Abridged edition (April 1, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9626348631

ISBN-13: 978-9626348635

Genre: Classic Mystery

Amazon purchasing information for the audio version, which I listened to are US/UK/Canada.

This book was read for The Fill in the Gaps Challenge, The Woman Unbound Challenge, and The New Author Challenge.

This book’s significance for The Woman Unbound Challenge is that it is an example of how UK law was set up so that woman could not hold title to property, only men – fathers, husbands, sons, or other family members. Also the power of men over women was not unlike those of a child. Crazy making stuff, yet we’ve come a long way!

Thanks for reading Layers of Thought.