#Young Algernon COULD be working hard to get a promotion at the bank but instead he's rereading the woman in white again

[the-busy-ghost]

Love that Wilkie Collins apparently kept getting letters from guys who were convinced that Marian Halcombe must have been based on a real woman, begging him to introduce them because they were desperate to marry her

#Look Marian didn't need a man but also good for the girl that gets introduced to us as the ugly sister #And I don't mean in that silly Hollywood 'wears glasses but is otherwise conventionally hot way' #I mean 'there is nothing wrong with this woman but she has features that are still mocked and treated with revulsion in the 21st century #So yeah Marian can get it #Poor Wilkie Collins though like how many times do you have to break the hearts of various Berties and Georges and Neds #Before they understand that this fictional character you created isn't going to marry them #All these dudes totally convinced that he was hiding her somewhere #Not to mention all the exasperated parents in Britain whose sons won't get married because they're pining for a fictional woman #Young Algernon COULD be working hard to get a promotion at the bank but instead he's rereading the woman in white again #Cecil turns down a perfectly good job in Canada because he's president of the West Dulwich branch of the Miss Halcombe fan club #And I realise I sound very dismissive but honestly? Good for these young men as well #The Woman in White