The Woman in White

Amy.

Amy. Don't get mad.

I hated this book. I AM SORRY!! I hated it. OK, "Hate" is a strong word. To quote my sister Vicky's tongue-in-cheek saying: "I HATE people who hate!" I can say "I disliked it a lot" or "I liked it but a bit."

I love most period stories. I loved "Jane Eyre," and hated "Wuthering Heights." I love anything Jane Austen.

This book was new to me. I had never even heard of it. I was surprised to find that it was actually on page 4 or 5 of the Classics list I am working off of. I did not know that.

It is considered one of the first "mystery or suspense" novels of our time. It deals with the lives of an art teacher who falls in love with a young lady, Laura, he was hired to teach, but loses her to a pre-arranged wedding to another man who turns out to be a snake. There's a strange woman in white trying to stop it all, there's Laura's strong-willed half-sister (I liked her, I will admit), Laura's ridiculous uncle who I wanted to punch, and the new husband's friend, an effeminate fop of an obese Italian Count who you sense deep down is very dangerous.

Overall, the story is intriguing. The only problem for me was, that it was slow going. My copy was a bit over 650 pages and I only got really interested in the plot at about page 420 or so. I am a hyper person, I know, but I can read other classics and period stories without getting bored or skimming most of it. I found myself already knowing what was happening and that was what did me in, I think. I knew what was going on with the woman in white from early on, so I was impatient with the book. I wanted the characters to catch up with me already.