On a moonlit road in Hampstead, Walter Hartright is accosted by a stranger dressed from head to toe in white. She asks the way to London and no sooner has Walter directed her than he is overtaken by a carriage in pursuit of the mysterious woman, who has evidently escaped from an asylum. From this single incident, Walter unwinds a thrilling story of abduction, madness, false identity and shameful family secrets. The Woman in White (1860) is both a Victorian sensation novel and a detective story. It established Collins as a popular author and has never been out of print.