The Woman in White

Celebrated as one of the first popular mystery novels, The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins, skillfully incorporates the twisting and turning of more than a few plot lines that all manage to converge beautifully at the end of the work.

Walter Hartright, an art teacher, crosses paths one day with a woman who appears to be distressed, and he notices immediately that she is clad in an all-white outfit. It is later made known to him that she is from an asylum, and that her name is Anne. The people of the community know her very well. After Walter takes a job at what is known as Limmeridge House, he notices that one of his students - Laura - looks strikingly like the distressed woman he met, Anne. But it is not until later on in the novel that he discovers the reason why.

Through a series of calculated moves that involve death and a large inheritance, the small community is rocked and shrouded in mystery at the hands of the conniving Sir Percival Glyde, who is interested only in making himself wealthy at the hands of others. As in all great novels, the antagonists get what they deserve, and the characters who maintain their dignity are rewarded handsomely in the end.