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monicadee88's review against another edition
2.0
Shallow and problematic characters, frustrating dialogue, too many frills and not enough grit. "Gothic horror"? I think not.
katdid's review against another edition
4.0
I almost certainly read this when I was younger 'cause I went through a major Vine phase (A Dark Adapted Eye is a fave) but I didn't remember it at all. Classic gothic setting but in the 1960s, and a character study of some wildly terrible people.
Spoiler
The aftermath of Winifred's murder, where the rest of the Cosways are completely unmoved, would be unbelievable if Vine hadn't convinced you how messed up they all are in advance. A quibble: if Kerstin's in-laws still lived in the same village(?) wouldn't they know that Ella had married Eric? Jane would have been all over that bit of news!melpen's review
5.0
Possibly my new favorite Barbara Vine! I'm not sure how I've missed this one in the past, but it's an excellent psychological thriller with finely drawn characters. Highly recommended.
avrilhj's review
5.0
I love it when Ruth Rendell writes as Barbara Vine. She is basically writing sensation fiction in the style of Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, but set in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This is as good as her other Vine novels.
magdon's review
3.0
except for dark-adapted eye, i'm always vaguely disappointed by her books. well written but not nearly as spooky or suspenseful or revealing as i feel i've been promised.
beevimes's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
tanyaborck's review against another edition
2.0
I only finished it because it is one of my library Lucky Dip picks.
kirstinbrie's review
4.0
Interesting style. I loved how she delved into each character's quirky personality. Very enjoyable book with an ending I didn't expect. I will seek out more of her books.
spygrl1's review
4.0
Barbara/Ruth Vine/Rendell is simply excellent.
Young Kerstin (Shashtin) Kvist comes to England to work as a nurse to John Cosway. His family -- mother and three spinster sisters -- all insist he's mad, but Kerstin doubts that schizophrenia is a genuine diagnosis. In fact, Kerstin thinks the pills his mother pushes on John morning and night might have more to do with his strange lack of affect.
In time, Kerstin comes to believe that John is not mad, but rather autistic. His mind simply works in a very different, nearly unfathomable way. It's the harsh, selfish ways of the mothers and sisters that truly baffle her.
An artist, Felix Dunsford, moves to the sleepy village and sets in motion a conflict between sisters Winifred and Ella. Although Ella is the unattached, eligible sister (Winifred being engaged to the rector, Eric Dawson) both are taken with the painter, who adopts a stagey rakishness. First Ella takes up with him, embarking on an affair that he keeps secret in order to avoid undue entanglement, and then the engaged Winifred also begins meeting him secretly. Both sisters, in fact, use the same code name, "Tamara," when calling for Felix at the local pub where he spends much of his time.
Living amid the family and curious about their strange dynamic, Kerstin begins to piece together other family secrets. Mrs. Cosway's lifelong affair with the family doctor; youngest daughter Zohra's marked resemblance to said doctor; eldest sister Ida's past interest in the rector, which led to nothing; and the strange provisions of the late Mr. Cosway's will, leaving everything to his eldest son, with the inheritance only coming to his daughters if the son dies or is committed to an asylum.
Winifred's affair continues even to the eve of her marriage to Dawson. It is only halted by her death. Neither Ella nor Kerstin is in the room -- John, Mrs. Cosway and Ida are present when a beautiful Roman glass pitcher is smashed into her skull. Mrs. Cosway and Ida both point the finger at John, but Kerstin knows that with his aversion to touching anyone, his fascination with the beautiful glass vase, and his profound lack of interest in anyone else, it's impossible to conceive of him murdering his sister. The police -- after speaking with her and reading her diary -- apparently agree, so John is sent home again.
Ella and Kerstin are forced to confront the question: If not John, who? Mrs. Cosway or Ida? Ida because she hated what Winifred was doing to her fiance, a man Ida cared for? Mrs. Cosway because she hated the way Winifred was carrying on and feared her bringing shame to the family?
The question is never resolved, for a fire destroys the family home and kills Mrs. Cosway. Ida is found quietly peeling potatoes in the kitchen -- she seems to have slipped away from sanity and stability. Kerstin believes Ida probably set the fire -- perhaps as revenge against the mother she had watched kill her sister, perhaps to quiet her mother's testimony against herself, perhaps simply because she longed for something to change, something to jolt her from the rut of drudgery she had worked herself into.
Young Kerstin (Shashtin) Kvist comes to England to work as a nurse to John Cosway. His family -- mother and three spinster sisters -- all insist he's mad, but Kerstin doubts that schizophrenia is a genuine diagnosis. In fact, Kerstin thinks the pills his mother pushes on John morning and night might have more to do with his strange lack of affect.
In time, Kerstin comes to believe that John is not mad, but rather autistic. His mind simply works in a very different, nearly unfathomable way. It's the harsh, selfish ways of the mothers and sisters that truly baffle her.
An artist, Felix Dunsford, moves to the sleepy village and sets in motion a conflict between sisters Winifred and Ella. Although Ella is the unattached, eligible sister (Winifred being engaged to the rector, Eric Dawson) both are taken with the painter, who adopts a stagey rakishness. First Ella takes up with him, embarking on an affair that he keeps secret in order to avoid undue entanglement, and then the engaged Winifred also begins meeting him secretly. Both sisters, in fact, use the same code name, "Tamara," when calling for Felix at the local pub where he spends much of his time.
Living amid the family and curious about their strange dynamic, Kerstin begins to piece together other family secrets. Mrs. Cosway's lifelong affair with the family doctor; youngest daughter Zohra's marked resemblance to said doctor; eldest sister Ida's past interest in the rector, which led to nothing; and the strange provisions of the late Mr. Cosway's will, leaving everything to his eldest son, with the inheritance only coming to his daughters if the son dies or is committed to an asylum.
Winifred's affair continues even to the eve of her marriage to Dawson. It is only halted by her death. Neither Ella nor Kerstin is in the room -- John, Mrs. Cosway and Ida are present when a beautiful Roman glass pitcher is smashed into her skull. Mrs. Cosway and Ida both point the finger at John, but Kerstin knows that with his aversion to touching anyone, his fascination with the beautiful glass vase, and his profound lack of interest in anyone else, it's impossible to conceive of him murdering his sister. The police -- after speaking with her and reading her diary -- apparently agree, so John is sent home again.
Ella and Kerstin are forced to confront the question: If not John, who? Mrs. Cosway or Ida? Ida because she hated what Winifred was doing to her fiance, a man Ida cared for? Mrs. Cosway because she hated the way Winifred was carrying on and feared her bringing shame to the family?
The question is never resolved, for a fire destroys the family home and kills Mrs. Cosway. Ida is found quietly peeling potatoes in the kitchen -- she seems to have slipped away from sanity and stability. Kerstin believes Ida probably set the fire -- perhaps as revenge against the mother she had watched kill her sister, perhaps to quiet her mother's testimony against herself, perhaps simply because she longed for something to change, something to jolt her from the rut of drudgery she had worked herself into.