So, what is the perfect introduction to the great English novel?

I work in an academic library in Edinburgh, which means that I'm occasionally asked some very odd questions. The oddest definitely being "do you have a copy of the Necronomicon?" If only I'd thought to ask if he wanted it in real human skin or imitation.

The other day, a terribly nice German student came up to the desk and bashfully confessed his ignorance of what he called "the great English novel". Could I recommend something for him that might spark his interest? He said he was actually "embarrassed for not having read any of the greats". Now aside from the fact that my automatic response to received wisdom is not to believe a word of it, this was one I didn't even have to think about.

For me, there was only one choice. It's not an "improving" novel. It's not got a great deal to say by way of searing social comment. It's not epistolary, as so many of the "canon" English novels are (although there is the odd letter here and there). Neither is it a bildungsroman, something which sometimes seemed mandatory for any novel to make the critical grade. It's alright, come back. I'm going to stop being pretentious now. What I mean to say is, my choice - and I didn't even have to think about it - is simply a thundering good read, written in an immediately accessible style.

It's breathtakingly well-paced for such a long novel, which may be the result of its initial publication in serial form as we rattle up to regular cliffhanging points in the narrative. Thanks to the fact that the narrative is repeatedly passed to a different narrator, we're never sure exactly how much to trust.

It is (in point of fact) a blockbusting roller-coaster of a read. And it's one which I had no hesitation in recommending to my German friend as a perfect way to start exploring the murky waters of "the great English novel".


For those who've never read it, I wholeheartedly reccomend "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins to you. I envy you - you're in for a treat. For those who have read it - well, you'll know exactly what I mean. It may not be my favourite novel ever, but its damn close.

It's public domain these days, it seems - at least, Gutenberg has it in their list. Get it here, and see if I'm not right.

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/583

The student came back three days later to return it. "It was magnificent", he said.

He was right.