The Novel That Kept a British Prime Minister Up All Night

Wilkie Collins’s ‘The Woman in White’ Paved the Way for Modern Suspense Novels—And Then We Mostly Forgot

The artist Walter Hartright tramps homeward to London one sultry night from a farewell visit with his mother and sister, the moon overhead providing the only light along the way. The following day, he’ll trek north to Cumberland for a new job at Limmeridge House, teaching a pair of young ladies to paint. His friend, Professor Pesca, a political refugee …