rainweaver's Notes
2026
Jun 22, 2026
The Woman in White
By Wilkie CollinsI've circled this book for easily 50 years, finding recommendations, adding it to "to read" lists, and just never getting around to it. I had no idea what I was missing.
Yes, it's written in the Victorian era, so it's long on description and moves slowly compared to more modern novels. But the story itself is fantastic and rewards the patience required to read it.
It's a story that couldn't happen today, since much of the plot involves mistaken identity and threats to women that (thank goodness and fingers crossed) are no longer present. But in "The Woman in White," those threats are very real; living in a society in which a woman could be put in an asylum by any man in her life (father, husband, brother...) for just about any reason whatsoever.
The plot unfolds from multiple viewpoints in this epistolary telling, and includes some of the earliest fictional depictions of detective work (albeit unofficial). It also features a remarkable female character, Marian Halcombe, whose intelligence and drive manages to keep the plot moving. Not to be dismissed is the fact that parts of the story are just plain funny.
"The Woman in White" was considered to be a 'sensation novel' at the time of its publication. In my opinion, it's still pretty sensational today.
Don't wait 50 years before reading it.
Yes, it's written in the Victorian era, so it's long on description and moves slowly compared to more modern novels. But the story itself is fantastic and rewards the patience required to read it.
It's a story that couldn't happen today, since much of the plot involves mistaken identity and threats to women that (thank goodness and fingers crossed) are no longer present. But in "The Woman in White," those threats are very real; living in a society in which a woman could be put in an asylum by any man in her life (father, husband, brother...) for just about any reason whatsoever.
The plot unfolds from multiple viewpoints in this epistolary telling, and includes some of the earliest fictional depictions of detective work (albeit unofficial). It also features a remarkable female character, Marian Halcombe, whose intelligence and drive manages to keep the plot moving. Not to be dismissed is the fact that parts of the story are just plain funny.
"The Woman in White" was considered to be a 'sensation novel' at the time of its publication. In my opinion, it's still pretty sensational today.
Don't wait 50 years before reading it.
Jun 19, 2026
The Grey Wolf
By Louise PennyLouise Penny strikes again. It took a few chapters to get fully into this one, but then it ramped up quickly into a real nail-biter. These terrorism possibilities ring too awfully possible.
Jun 15, 2026
The Last Mandarin
By Louise Penny and Mellissa FungWow. That's all. Just wow.
Jun 12, 2026
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
By Matthew SullivanWho was the young man who chose to kill himself at a bookstore?
May 14, 2026
The Hound of the Baskervilles
By Arthur Conan DoyleHard to believe I'd never read this before now. Good mystery. An excellent read, although in that ultra-descriptive Victorian style that makes it a slow read.
May 08, 2026
The Remains of the Day
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
By Kazuo IshiguroSuch a slow read, but I often find Ishiguro's work that way: It's almost like I have to force myself to keep reading but also can't stop. Stevens, the dreadfully repressed butler so fixated on dignity and living up to his father's example, breaks my heart in the way he so adamantly resists love. And when he finally faces reality and gives in, it's too late.
But maybe he'll learn to banter.
Both funny and devastating, as Ishiguro often is.
But maybe he'll learn to banter.
Both funny and devastating, as Ishiguro often is.