The 19th-century detective novel The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins excites the reader with detailed descriptions and a suspenseful plot. The testimony of several characters reveals the story of Laura Fairlie's arranged marriage to Sir Percival Glyde. Percival's friend Count Fosco is by his side, and Marian Halcombe, Laura's half-sister, is by his side. Walter Hartright, a watercolor artist, finds himself temporarily residing with Laura as he is hired to teach her his art. The two soon fall in love, changing Laura's plans to marry Percival. As the story progresses, the underlying motivations and secrets of each character are revealed. Some readers may find Collins' novel too wordy. Sometimes this is true: perhaps Collins could have been briefer in explaining how Hartright's sister (a character who has no place in the plot) picked up pieces of a broken teacup, or by revealing minute legal details in the testimony of Mr. Gilmore, the family lawyer. Nonetheless, these extra details are very beneficial for character and plot development. “Details such as signatures, a copy of a death certificate, and a reproduction of a tombstone engraving make a number of accounts [duplicate] legible images” (Irvin 225). In these detailed images, Collins uses both suspense and vivid depictions to develop the engaging and contrasting personalities of Laura Fairlie and Count Fosco. A good first impression can be important, whether in a job interview or meeting the in-laws for the first time. time. Before the interviewee even opened their mouth to speak, the interviewer received an impression through "obvious visible characteristics [like] gender, facial expressions, ethnicity...... middle paper ......ization of masculinity in The Woman in White. "Novel: A Forum on Fiction 37.1/2 (2003): 158-180. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. July 10, 2010. Bernstein, Stephen. "Reading Blackwater Park: Gothicism, Narrative, and Ideology in The Woman in white. " Studies in the Novel 25.3 (1993): 291. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. July 9, 2010. Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White. London: Penguin Books, 1999. Print. Irvin, Darcy. "Image- Texts in The Woman in White." Rocky Mountain Review 63.2 (2009): 225-232. Shelley, Mar. Frankenstein New York. 2003. Print. Veletsianos, George. "Contextually Relevant Pedagogical Agents: Visual Appearance, Stereotypes, and First Impressions and their impact on learning. » Computers & Education 55.2 (2010): 576-585. EBSCO Academic Research. 2010.