The Black Robe vs Where Angels Fear to Tread: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: British and irish fiction, England, English literature, Classic Literature, Fiction
The Black Robe
“THE doctors could do no more for the Dowager Lady Berrick.”
More
The Black Robe is an 1881 partially-epistolary novel by famed English writer, Wilkie Collins. The book, which relates the misadventures of one "Lewis Romayne", is noted for its anti-Catholic lens.
Where Angels Fear to Tread
More
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) follows two women to Italy: the widowed Lilia Herriton and her traveling companion Caroline Abbott. Lilia falls passionately in love with the country, and also with a young Italian man.…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Where Angels Fear to Tread is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 5 for The Black Robe.
- Where Angels Fear to Tread has the widest readership — 18410 ratings behind its score.
- Where Angels Fear to Tread runs the darker storyline; The Black Robe stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Black Robe | Where Angels Fear to Tread | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (812) | 3.6 (18410) |
| Hardcover | 2.0 (2) | 3.5 (32) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (28) | 4.0 (17) |
Reception
| The Black Robe | Where Angels Fear to Tread | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 812 | 18410 |
| Editions | 303 | 382 |
| Citations | 9 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 851 | 17568 |
| Reading it now | — | 1307 |
| Written reviews | 97 | 1639 |
| Wikipedia attention | 214 | 5233 |
| Pages | 318 | 131 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Black Robe or Where Angels Fear to Tread?
The Black Robe has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Black Robe 3.7/5, Where Angels Fear to Tread 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Black Robe or Where Angels Fear to Tread?
Where Angels Fear to Tread is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Where Angels Fear to Tread (131 pages, ≈ 2 h 26 m); The Black Robe (318 pages, ≈ 5 h 53 m).
Which is harder to read: The Black Robe or Where Angels Fear to Tread?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Black Robe: Demanding; Where Angels Fear to Tread: Challenging.