dcsilbertrust's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
gifflesnooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jch2022's review against another edition
3.0
hmmm...according to the quote from the Chicago Tribune this is her best book ever...an amazing accomplishment. Actually, it's not. Her Inspector Wexford mysteries(as Ruth Rendell) are much better and while our protagonist, the superstitious Jenny, is engaging this just drug on and on for me. A bit better than average because the characters are finely drawn but when the denoument arrives it just fell flat for me.
nocto's review against another edition
3.0
This is probably the least mysterious and least psychological story I've read from Vine/Rendell. The action takes place in a small Norfolk village where Jenny Warner is caring for Stella Newlands who is dying of lung cancer in a residential home. It's the kind of gradually unfolding story that Vine is good at where you aren't quite sure what the real mystery is going to turn out to be. Only in this case I didn't think that there was really anything discovered that was worth the build up.
I enjoyed the book but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for mystery, thrills or suspense. What we have here is a really interesting story that might have worked well in a general fiction book but didn't really fit into the genre it was billed as.
The only thing that was really wrong with this book for me was that I read an edition that had been butchered from its original British English into American English for what seemed to be no particularly good reason. I can't believe that any vaguely literate American would have trouble figuring out that "ladybirds" were "ladybugs" or that a "plough" is a "plow" seeing as these words are all used in context. These changes dragged me out of the setting. I suppose I deserve that for reading an edition that wasn't aimed at me but it has left me wondering what else gets changed between the author and the reader and what on earth publishers must think of their reader's intelligence.
I enjoyed the book but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for mystery, thrills or suspense. What we have here is a really interesting story that might have worked well in a general fiction book but didn't really fit into the genre it was billed as.
The only thing that was really wrong with this book for me was that I read an edition that had been butchered from its original British English into American English for what seemed to be no particularly good reason. I can't believe that any vaguely literate American would have trouble figuring out that "ladybirds" were "ladybugs" or that a "plough" is a "plow" seeing as these words are all used in context. These changes dragged me out of the setting. I suppose I deserve that for reading an edition that wasn't aimed at me but it has left me wondering what else gets changed between the author and the reader and what on earth publishers must think of their reader's intelligence.
avisreadsandreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
annatha_belle's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book. A bit meandering and over-descriptive in some places, but good. I would have given it five stars, but the last 100 pages of the book should have been cut down to maybe 50. Otherwise, very good read.
em_beddedinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Not the typical Barbara Vine, nevertheless an enjoyable read.
A story about dull marriages, uninterested husbands and philandering wives.
A story of2 marriages separated by at least a score of years, the connecting thread being the same house used for rendezvous by the wives with their married lovers.
The older lady is now a terminal cancer patient in an institute being taken care of by he younger lady.
the events take time to untold, as conversations between the two,as well as soliloquy by the younger lady.
there is deceit, disappearance, death and lots of quaint superstitions.
Was an enjoyable, but slightly meandering tale.
A story about dull marriages, uninterested husbands and philandering wives.
A story of2 marriages separated by at least a score of years, the connecting thread being the same house used for rendezvous by the wives with their married lovers.
The older lady is now a terminal cancer patient in an institute being taken care of by he younger lady.
the events take time to untold, as conversations between the two,as well as soliloquy by the younger lady.
there is deceit, disappearance, death and lots of quaint superstitions.
Was an enjoyable, but slightly meandering tale.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
3.0
The main problem with the book is that it drags just a little. That said, it is still a pretty interesting book. The story is compelling and the characters are likable.