* Warning spoilers! *
So we are left off with knowing Percival's secret which of course he tries to destroy - wasting himself in the process. There's a bit in the intro which got me thinking about this part actually. One of the most interesting things about The Woman in White is that it is all told by the characters narratives which means that you don't have an overarching narrator who tells you the truth. How do you know as a reader that the narrating characters haven't told little white lies for their own purposes. What if Hartright didn't really try everything he could to get Percival out... who knows what kind of little differences to the truth may be scattered throughout the novel. Intriguing....
What else did we find out - oh yes Anne and Laura were half-sisters; their dad being a bit of player. Not so interesting really. Fosco is in love with Marian (well who wouldn't be really, am I right?) and so decides not to act on the knowledge of their whereabouts. I absolutely adore the line:
"The best men are not consistent in good - why should the worst men be consistent in evil?"
So brilliant. Laura and Walter get married - yeah we all saw that coming but lets be honest no-one really cares. Pesca returns, oh yes best part of the section. Walter has the nerve to suggest we may have forgotten him - yeah right. And then he turns out even cooler by being some kinda spy / secret organisation mobster dude. Very cool.
Pesca sees Fosco and is all 'nup don't know him' and Fosco sees Pesca and craps himself which means Fosco is in this Italian secret brotherhood business too but obviously pissed someone off. Walter and Fosco face off which is one of the more impressive parts of Walter's abilities throughout this novel. But sadly we then have to read through Fosco's confession which has to summarise everything that has already happened and basically puts me to sleep. Nice one. Fosco had some cool phrases but seriously tell me something I didn't know.
And then Fosco goes into hiding but you can't run from the brotherhood assassins! So he's found bobbin' around in a river and Mr. Fairlie kindly heads to the heavens early too so that Walter, Laura and Marian can all live happily ever after at Limmeridge House. Meh that kind of annoyed me for being too convenient and I wanted to see Marian and Pesca get 'acquainted' but it is what it is.
And there we have it. We come to the end of my first readalong (which I loved) and a fantastic book which I highly recommend to everyone. Thanks to everyone who joined me along the way and we'll see you at the next one!
p.s. The play is very different to the actual chain of events in the novel which makes it kinda weird to read.
