Scan barcode
thecommonswings's review
3.0
What an extraordinarily odd book: Loft has what would be a brilliant bit of plotting for a conventional crime novel but for some reason decides to tell it in a way that totally scuppers it. I understand the appeal of the inverted crime novel, and when done well it’s astonishing - Malice Aforethought being the best example - but Loft takes a fine idea and flattens and guts it so it flails about uselessly and becomes totally inert in the process. Any tension is absolutely lost
And I think I know why she did it: she’s a very, very good writer. All the narrators are very well psychologically realised, even the villains. Better still is our ostensible heroine who in her first narration is sterling and loyal and brave and then, after a look at her from the villains’ perspective, when she returns there’s a definite prissiness and pettiness to her which is very nicely done. It’s tremendously bold for a book from 1940 with the villains being surprisingly open about their sex life
It’s no classic and is very much a better novel ruined by some very strange authorial decisions but is absolutely why I read these books: it’s pretty unique and fully committed to a wrong headed approach
And I think I know why she did it: she’s a very, very good writer. All the narrators are very well psychologically realised, even the villains. Better still is our ostensible heroine who in her first narration is sterling and loyal and brave and then, after a look at her from the villains’ perspective, when she returns there’s a definite prissiness and pettiness to her which is very nicely done. It’s tremendously bold for a book from 1940 with the villains being surprisingly open about their sex life
It’s no classic and is very much a better novel ruined by some very strange authorial decisions but is absolutely why I read these books: it’s pretty unique and fully committed to a wrong headed approach
More...