I had now arrived at that particular point of my walk where four roads met… and was strolling along the lonely high-road… when, in one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop by the touch of a hand laid lightly and suddenly on my shoulder from behind me.

I turned on the instant, with my fingers tightening round the handle of my stick.
There, in the middle of the broad bright high-road – there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven – stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments, her face bent in grave inquiry on mine, her hand pointing to the dark cloud over London, as I faced her.

This meeting between Walter Hartright and the mysterious, distressed woman in white takes place in 1849 on Hampstead Heath, then on the outskirts of London. Shortly afterwards he travels to Limmeridge House in Cumberland, having been hired to teach drawing to half-sisters Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe. Laura bears a striking resemblance to the woman he met that night.

Although Laura is betrothed to, and later marries, Sir Percival Glyde, she and Walter fall in love. Glyde’s intrigue, which involves the mysterious woman, and its untangling are the story of The Woman in White.

Written by Wilkie Collins and first published in serial form in 1859–60, The Woman in White is one of the earliest detective stories.

We have been working with illustrator Angela Barrett on our edition for over two years. At nearly 700 pages, it will be a major undertaking. We expect to publish in 2025.