Reviews

Incredibly haunting. There's a certain sense of dread that never leaves you, even when the main character is in a seemingly good place in her life.
You know something will go wrong - and you're just anticipating what might do her in in the end.

paradisecreated's review against another edition

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4.0

The world that Barbara Comyns creates for Alice to inhabit in this novel is so rich. I was really captivated by the descriptions of the bonfires in clapham common, German bands playing outside the door, orators in the park, the busyness and claustrophobia but also life of London and the contrast between that and the island in the countryside with the seabirds and spaciousness, and a different kind of life. The more I think about it the more I love this book, in all it’s terror and sadness, and humour and oddity.

td7reads's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

schnauzermum's review against another edition

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4.0

Set in Edwardian London, this novel combines the realistic and the gothic. It boasts one of literature’s monstrous fathers, a crumbling house, much macabre detail (a rug made from the skin of a Great Dane, for example), and some seriously funny writing. Here’s Mrs Churchill, the housekeeper, talking about her Christmas shopping:

‘Vera’s boy is to have a humming-top and my other grandson, handcuffs. Just toy ones, of course, but he may as well get used to them; you never know what may happen in life, do you?’

This is another delight I discovered through the splendid Backlisted podcast. I don’t know why Barbara Comyns isn’t more widely read.

jimmypat's review against another edition

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3.0

What an odd little book. I enjoyed how the innocent narrator described terrible situations, but I kind of felt like the book went off the rails midway through.

kellyyates's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

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