"Who is the 'solitary figure of a woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments,' whose appearance shattered forever the outward peace of life at Limmeridge House? Is she an apparition...a madwoman...perhaps a player in some bizarre scheme? From the moment "the Woman" first appears to Walter Hartright on a moonlit London road, Wilkie Collins' melodrama casts its spell. THE WOMAN IN WHITE was a tremendous success when it first appeared in 1860--cloaks, bonnets and perfumes were named after it. Gladstone put off a theatre party to read it. Thackeray sat up all night to finish it--and now, over 125 years later, it still enthralls." -- Publisher.