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The White Lady
The White Lady
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. — The private, quiet “Miss White" as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780062867988
ISBN-10: 0062867989
Publication Date: 3/21/2023
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 15

3.4 stars, based on 15 ratings
Publisher: Harper
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 32
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

cathyskye avatar reviewed The White Lady on + 2307 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Having been a fan of Jacqueline Winspear's long-running Maisie Dobbs series, I looked forward to seeing how her new heroine, Elinor White, would measure up. I'm happy to say that, in The White Lady, Elinor measures up quite nicely although I didn't grow to care for her as I did Maisie.

Readers see Elinor both in 1947 and as a teenager in Belgium during World War I. Her backstory illuminates Elinor's character and makes us wonder just how many other women were forced to do the same things Elinor did in order to survive. One of the most poignant scenes in The White Lady occurs when the young Elinor is attending class once her family has escaped to England. The teacher tells the girls that almost all the young men they could have been expected to marry have been slaughtered in the trenches of World War I, and that means that these girls will have to do well in school and learn how to take care of themselves; there will be no husbands to provide for them, no children to take care of them in their old age.

Elinor carries a lot of guilt for the things she had to do during both wars, and she believes that saving the Mackies from being dragged back into the criminal ways of their family is her chance for redemption. How she goes about saving them uncovers corruption in surprising places.

The White Lady is a strong story with much to say about survival, guilt, and redemption, and Elinor White is a character I wanted to embrace wholeheartedly. However, I always felt as though she never opened the door of her cottage to me, and it was that lack of emotional resonance that spoiled my reading a bit. Your mileage could definitely vary.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "The White Lady"


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