883. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

eBook source: Free from epubbooks (ePub)

Read on: Sony PRS-300

Thoughts
This is a mystery novel which is notable for being an example of a Victorian-era 'sensation novel'. It was also a bit different in the narrative style, being told from the perspective of several characters through statements and journal entries. I liked this - it helped me to relate to the main characters. After the last couple of books I wasn't sure whether to expect the unexpected, but in this case I was relieved that the story didn't stray too far from where I thought it would go. The story was compelling enough to keep me up reading far too late into the early hours of the morning for a couple of nights.

The bad guy in this book really got under my skin - chauvinistic, cruel, controlling and manipulative. I spent much of the book hoping that the story would take an unpredictable turn and that someone (preferably one of the ladies who were so mistreated by him) would kill him. As with many nineteenth century novels that I have read, I was frustrated because if the characters had communicated openly from the outset and weren't so reserved, restrained or bound by manners, they would never have tolerated Sir Scumbag's behaviour, and would also have avoided most of the dramas and troubles that arose throughout the story.

About the eBook
This was the first eBook I've read that has included linked footnotes. I didn't work out that I could follow them until the last one, but once I did, it was very easy to jump to the notes and back to the text that referenced them using the navigation buttons on the Sony reader.

I thought that I might have had an incomplete eBook when I reached the end because the last line was "let Marian end our Story." which I thought meant that she was about to contribute some concluding remarks, but there was nothing further. However I checked a scan of the book on Google Books and it turns out that this is really how it ends.

eBooks read so far: 8