"The Woman in White" is widely considered to be one of the first and best "sensation" novels - That in and of itself guaranteed this novel to be and to remain a novel of classic literature.
"Nowadays, people tend to know Collins, if they know him at all, for either “The Woman in White,” published in 1860, or “The Moonstone,” published in 1868. Since the former is considered the originator of the “sensation novel”—a wildly popular Victorian genre that blended gothic horror and domestic realism—and the latter is often credited with spawning the modern detective story, that’s not a bad legacy." Excerpt from the July 25, 2011 issue of The New Yorker review of Wilkie Collins's work entitled "DOUBLES: Wilkie Collins’s shadow selves" by Jonathan Rosen.
Link to the review: https://www.google.com/amp/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/07/25/doubles/amp?client=safari
I remember reading both of those novels as a child and being unable to put them down. Perhaps knowing the significance of "The Woman in White" (explained in the footnotes of the edition I read at the time) would make a difference in the way someone viewed the film. Yes, the novels are tame and simply-plotted for adults of today, but knowing their history, at least to some, while they are a quick read, are still fun. The film version of "The Woman in White" (1997) is too, in my opinion. I've not yet seen any version of "The Moonstone."
"...question is why you won't come with me." "I don't have a passport." "What are you, American?"
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