Reviews

Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin

aeliza's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

jimmydean's review

Such an unexpectedly fun re-issue, captures the British seaside vibe & takes you on a silly and wild ride. The finale is a riot.

kate66's review against another edition

5.0

Well I loved this. I'd read a review saying it was old fashioned and dated but I didn't find it so at all, certainly no more so than any mid century Agatha Christie. There's maybe one or two references to women being hysterical or not being able to "hang onto" a man (rather than the man simply being a womanizer) but they are few and far between.

What you do get is the story of three sisters- Mildred who has returned to stay at a cottage she once rented with her husband (the eponymous Uncle Paul) who, it turned out, had murdered his first wife. Next we have Isabel who seems to get overwrought at the drop of a hat because she senses her husband may not love her and their two boys quite as much as she'd like him to. Finally we have Meg, sensible to the core (except perhaps when it comes to her love life as she has settled on the feckless Freddy for a lover).

The story follows a call from Isabel to Meg begging her to come and talk sense into Mildred who is intent on staying in the same cottage where Uncle Paul was arrested fifteen years before. Both Mildred and Isabel seem to think that Paul is now out of prison and coming for revenge on one or all of the sisters who caused his incarceration.

What follows is a wonderfully slow burn thriller with the tension ratcheting up by degrees until everyone is at screaming pitch.

Excellent book. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a Christie or a psychological slow burn thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

itsmelanie's review against another edition

3.0

3,5 ⭐️ Did anyone say plot twist? I wanted to give this book 2,5 ⭐️ as there was no real action throughout most of the book. Sure, the scenery is set beautifully and a lot of questions arose while reading but the suspense I’d expected was not quite there. But the plot twist, in the last 10 pages of the book, completely caught me off guard and came as a total surprise!

ncrane's review

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

A very slow read, nothing actually happened for a good third of the book, I just think it wasn't a book for me

millie_croft's review

Took too long to get to anything interesting. Not content i would read as it was published a while ago.

_cathwood's review

lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

hannahcramp's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

elean0rtaylor's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

2.5
This was okay. I was expecting a thriller, but in reality it's just three women pottering around a sea side town worrying. The end gets a little more suspenseful, but quite literally in the last 50 pages, so it wasn't that exciting.
The characters were quite annoying as well.
Probably wouldn't recommend.

fhackland's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0