One of my intense early reading experiences I owe to an attic, a beam of torch light and a fat Italian with a weakness for canaries and white mice.

 

No, he wasn’t the owner of the local bookshop.

 

He was – a villain. A criminal mastermind. A lover of garish waistcoats and hatcher of evil plots.

 

The Count Fosco character in Wilkie Collins’ classic mystery The Woman in White is not a nice man. He twists the fate of the beautiful heroine Laura and her admirable sister Marian, steals her fortune and her life. He is an obstacle for the love blossoming between Laura and the upright Walter. He’s a friend of the repulsive Sir Percival Glyde. A dangerous, ruthless, manipulative man. As readers we like the innocent Laura and we like her brave sister even more. We want them to be free, happy and alive.

 

Count Fosco isn’t on our side. But – strangely – we are on his.

 

Well, at least I was, from the first moment he, oversized and light-footed, made his appearance on the pages. I didn’t fully understand why, but Fosco and his little pet creatures consented to stay with me for a long time, making me smile every now and then.

 

Many daunting reading experiences later I became more aware of how vital a villain can be for a plot. A mystery needs a weaver, as well as a solver of knots. How disheartening, when, after a long and breathless chase, we find ourselves face to face with the antagonist and discover – well: not enough. A bad-tempered balding choleric with a nervous twitch. A vengeful spinster. A sociopath who, in his early youth, was traumatised by a goat.

 

In short: somebody who seems almost unworthy of all the suspense he has created. Somebody with just one secret. We’ve found him out – and now? The mystery evaporates and leaves behind – a flatness. A shrug. Oh, it was him! Oh well. Why did I want to know so desperately?

 

Luckily, there is also another class of villain. Characters who, like Fosco,  “could tame anything” – even the reader. Smart, brilliant, deep, dangerously likeable antagonists.

 

 

Fosco isn’t elusive. Like Jago he shares some of his plotting with us - and we cannot help but delight in his efficiency and skill. At the same time the Count remains hard to grasp. Like Hannibal Lector or Kurtz he effortlessly transcends the evil role he is playing, transcends also the society that surrounds him.

 

 

Fosco and his villain colleagues lead us to place where black and white blur – not into grey, but into a multitude of shades and colours. A true place. A place that exists in our minds. We may not understand it, but we recognise it and are enthralled by it. And we remain enthralled, long after the book has been closed. The mystery of the plot is solved. The mystery of the character is only glimpsed.

 

I only was granted a short look at Fosco’s vast form – and how I would love to know more…

 

Who is your favorite villain?

 

 

Editor's Note: Leonie Swann is the author of Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detecitve Story; a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.