WomanInWhitealong readalong 2022/3

Ugh get better soon Piggy. I’ve had it 3 times now and it feels very unfair.

Looking forward to 17th.

Someone on the W&P thread asked if we have thought about what we might do next (if anything) so just raising it. I have no preference at all really.

Yep, I'm all set for 17th!

Poor you Piggy, hope you feel better soon.

See you on 17th!

Oh no, Piggy, it’s not that long since you last had it, iirc? I hope you don’t feel too rough.

I’m afraid I did finish it, as I wasn’t sure how far we were supposed to go, so definitely up for the 17th.

Yes, I'd be on for that. It would be nice to tidy up before Christmas.

Get well soon, Piggy. I'm just over a bout of Covid. It felt like a mild flu. You will be better well in time for Christmas, hopefully.

Haha yes, it’s a great idea @Palegreenstars - I’d buy it!

I saw that too @Terpsichore - would be excellent and I can hear the publishers getting excited about a new way to release the classics already.

I meant to add, I saw something on Twitter that made me laugh but also immediately think of this thread - someone who read a lot of Victorian fiction was wishing they could have a book full of samples of all the material that gets mentioned, things like bombazine and crepe and spotted Swiss muslin, just so they could properly visualise what the characters are wearing.

(I don’t think Collins mentions any of those, actually, but 'silk' does crop up quite a lot)

I have finished the whole book so don’t want to say too much in case I inadvertently reveal spoilers. I’ve really enjoyed it though!

I have been keeping up with the readalong (and actually read ahead to the end this month), but work and life busyness have been getting in the way of posting a bit.

Anyway, I don't think I enjoyed this bit quite as much as the previous sections as it spent a lot of time spelling out the nuts and bolts of what we basically already know. And the fact that Pesca just happened to be some sort of high-up in the Italian nationalist brotherhood that Fosco had betrayed was a bit... convenient! Still love the language and feel of being in the book though, will definitely read more Collins (this was my first).

That's true, Terpsichore. I felt my eyes glaze over reading about the great switcheroo between* *Laura and Anne and it wasn't as riveting as usual, although I suppose we had to have it all explained!

Sorry to be late to the discussion! Were we meant to finish it? I don’t want to let anything slip that I shouldn’t.

I have to be honest, I didn't enjoy this section quite as much as the previous one, largely because Collins had to show his nuts and bolts workings to explain things properly and tie up his loose ends. But Mrs Catherick was a peach! She reminded me of Mrs Sparsit in Hard Times, actually…. a similar feeling of puffed-up self-importance.

I think Collins vs Dickens is an interesting one when it came to women. He (Collins) liked them (he maintained two relationships simultaneously, after all!) and didn’t put them on an impossible pedestal, as Dickens so often did. But Marian is such a great, convincing, realistic character….I can’t imagine Dickens writing her.

I never thought of it, Palegreenstars. I took it that Mrs Fosco was in thrall to the Count and was happy to be his willing slave. Perhaps there was more going on that I didn't* *pick up on. He definitely had her under his thumb, I guess, but I always thought that it would have been through sheer force of his personality and by emotional manipulation.

Also I’m not quite at the end of this section but is it ever properly acknowledged and am I right in thinking the Count beats his wife into submission? I found their unsaid moments in the Blackwater Park scenes hideous.

hello!!! was attempting far too much Xmas admin today.

I love this section. Fosco is such a good baddy (not badass but I love that). It’s an odd process reading in this segmented way, I know that’s how the original reader enjoyed it but sometimes it feels like reading a different book entirely each section and I love the Italian intrigue of this bit.

I do feel a little strange when Walter mentions his travels - surely this is actually the least adventurous section of his life. I don’t think I’ve read a book before where a main character has such a big, exciting part of their life ‘off camera’.

also, it sits a bit heavy on me that two of the main ‘baddies’ Mrs C and Sir Glyde’s perceived negative traits are being a ‘bastard’ and infidelity. Obviously they have more odious characteristics but the emphasis placed on reputation at the time of writing just seems so weird to me.

im loving the language and characters more than the plot I think.

<passes the plate of buttered toast to Piggy while waiting for others to call by>

Definitely! Totally agree.

Very interesting points, Piggy.
I agree. It sounds* *a most turbulent time and I know nothing about it (Italian unification) beyond the bare facts in my history book from school, long forgotten now. It is proper cloak and dagger stuff altogether.

The tragedy of Anne Catherick's story was fully laid bare in Mrs Catherick's narrative when it was made clear that she knew nothing about Glyde's secret, but was shut away as a precaution to ensure his safety. It seems that Mrs C did try and defend her, but to no avail. It's one point in her favour that she tried to save her, although she didn't seem like a caring mother at all.

I enjoyed her narrative. There were some great lines (including buttered toast!) and this one; 'The dress of Virtue in our parts was cotton print. I had silk'. Mrs C didn't admit to having an affair with Philip Fairlie. How dare Walter! I think this was posturing on her part. We will have none of that kind of talk in this house.

When I was reading the account of Fosco spying on Marian and tailing her, it brought to mind a cartoon character squeezing his bulk behind lamp posts and pillar boxes, trying not to be seen. He's very nimble for a man of his size!

Mrs Fosco is terrifying in that utterly chilling ruthless way. 'Viperish', 'venomous' and 'vindictive' describe her so well and her one statement to Walter; 'If I had been in HIS place-I would have laid you dead on the hearthrug'. No doubt about it!

Finally, looking to the Count's narrative, I find it amusing that one of his names contains the letters B-A-D-A-S-S 😁