Review: The Dream Woman by Wilkie Collins

Original Publication Date: 1909 (in The Lock and Key Library, ed. by Julian Hawthorne)

Genre: short story

Topics: pick ups gone wrong, bad girls, alcoholism, murder, dreams, marriage

 

 

 

 

Review by Chrisbookarama:

The Dream Woman of Wilkie Collins story is not an angelic creature. Nope. She’s of the nightmare variety.

The Dream Woman is told in 4 parts by 3 different narrators. We are introduced to the story by Percy Fairbanks, who comes upon a groom named Francis while searching for someone to take care of his lame horse. Percy’s wife is intrigued by the man, who appears to be fighting off unseen demons. Since they’ve got time to kill, Mrs Fairbanks persuades Francis to unload his burden and tell her his troubles. It all starts with a dream…

Many years ago, while seeking employment, Francis spends a night at an inn where he has a dream that he’s being murdered by a beautiful woman. The very next year to the day, his birthday no less, he meets a mysterious woman wandering around the streets of his town at night all alone. Of course he instantly falls madly in love with the stranger, but there is something oddly familiar about her. I won’t say any more, but I think you can see where this is headed.

The Dream Woman is subtitled A Mystery in Four Narratives. There’s not much mystery though. It’s more of a tale of what happens when you pick up strangers. The dream woman is a bad girl through and through. She’s rather one note. There’s no explanation for her behaviour, she just is what she is.

The other important woman in this story, Mrs Fairbanks, is much more interesting character and we barely hear from her. It’s because of her that we hear Francis’s story and her pity that drives the plot to the end. However, it’s Percy who tells their part of the story and he has the irritating habit of winking at the reader with a, “Women! Am I right married guys?” Shut up, Percy.

The Dream Woman is a warning to dudes. Bad girls, stay away from them or they’ll make your life hell!

The Dream Woman appears in the Lock and Key Collection mentioned by Tasha in her review of The Lost Duchess.

Download The Dream Woman by Wilkie Collins at Project Gutenberg| Librivox

Review: The Woman in White

Original Publication Date:  1859

Genre:  Mystery, Romance, Sensation

Topics:  Inheritance, Dark Secrets

Review:  I listened to this book via the Librivox recording, and it was amazing.  I don't know how so many people worked together to make this book come to life, but I love that they put so much effort into it.  Each character has a different narrator on the audiobook, and each narrator creates a completely unique voice that really brings that character to life.


I don't even know how to describe what this book is about.  There's a drawing teacher, Walter Hartwright, who meets a woman dressed all in white one night on the road.  He helps her get where she needs to go and then continues on his own way.  But he soon realizes that his life is tied by fate to that of the woman in white, who knows about all sorts of secrets and wicked deeds and horrible pasts that will impact the lives of those closest to him.  And it's up to Walter and his completely awesome sidekick Marian, a brave and loyal woman who has the misfortune of being quite ugly, to save the day so that Walter can live happily ever after with the beautiful, rich princess of his choosing, Marian's half-sister, Laura.


Honestly, in reading this book, I can't help but think that Collins really wanted to make Marian the heroine but somehow settled for Laura.  It's pretty clear that Collins has zero interest in Laura.  She's good, she's kind, she's pretty, she can play the piano, but that's about it.  Collins gives practically everyone in the story at least one chapter to tell their side of the story, but he gives Laura nothing.  In contrast, Marian the Awesome gets a significant portion of the story dedicated to her narrative.  I will go to my grave (or at least, will go to the point at which I become quite foggy about this book's particulars) thinking that Hartwright was in love with one sister in his heart but just didn't realize it because he was so blinded by physical beauty.  But lucky for him, he gets to spend his days with both sisters, so life is quite grand for him.


My only other exposure to Collins had been the book Armadale, and I admit that I wasn't a fan of that one at all.  I really disliked Lydia Gwilt and she was the narrator for the majority of the book.  Here, I got to see Collins' skill with POV - he is excellent at making each character unique - and was also quite wrapped up in a complicated story with many twists and turns.

This is one of those books that, for me, was so helped by the audiobook.  I feel like it would have taken me forever to pick up a book that was almost 700 pages of Victorian overreaction and fainting and virtuous women, but in audio form, it was completely doable.  The Librivox team behind this edition is really, really good.  If you enjoy sensation novels or mystery novels or novels about unconventional heroines, then I highly recommend this one to you.  It's good stuff!

I listened to this free recording of the book.