The Woman in White

Diabolical plans are afoot when the wealthy, young Laura Fairlie is targeted in a conspiracy to serve her cruel husband's whims. Since Collins tells the story through a series of individual narratives, the publisher chose a talented cast of actors to deliver the various points of view. Roger Rees portrays Laura's brave friend, Walter Hartright, with the feeling and candor so evident in his personality. Equally compelling is Rosalyn Landor's depiction of Marian Halcombe in a rational but genuine tone. All the actors give much attention to the various dialects and foreign accents as they embody the array of characters. The production not only draws the listener into the thrilling mystery but also offers a lot of fun along the way. D.M.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 28, 2011
Josephine Bailey and Simon Prebble turn in stellar performances of Collins's classic, commonly regarded as the world's first mystery novel. Late one night, on the way to his new post, art teacher Walter Hartright encounters a ghostly woman dressed all in white, tending to a grave. The next day, he meets his new pupils, Laura Fairlie and her half-sister, Marian, and discovers that the sisters have mysterious ties to the woman in white. For a story told by a sequence of first-person narrators, Bailey and Prebble provide well-paced, alternating readings: Prebble's Hartright is steady, even-keeled, and sensitive; his Marian is bright and clear and blunt. Bailey's Laura is equally well rendered: kind and young, sad and sweet. The voices both narrators provide the host of other characters—including the hot-tempered Sir Percival Glyde and the devious Count Fosco—are attended with equal imagination and skill. A must-listen for mystery lovers.

Hugely popular in its time, Collins's mystery-suspense novel is now largely forgotten. Its decline has been due partly to an extravagantly intricate plot (one improved by abridgment) and partly to an equally convoluted structure. The story is told through the accounts of several characters in succession. Because the accounts contain dialogue, listeners are treated to the unusual spectacle of hearing every character filtered through each of the others. Such complexity would have overwhelmed anything less than virtuoso performances. Fortunately, both Nigel Anthony and Susan Jameson rise to the occasion. Listeners will be excused in mistaking this for a full-cast dramatization, so expertly distinguished is the multitude of voices within voices. S.J.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine