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A review by 1mpossiblealice
The Long Shadow by Celia Fremlin
4.0
I went into this thinking it was a. A Christmas book and b. A murder mystery - it's neither. Christmas does feature in it, but it's not essential to the plot and it's only a small section of the book.
That said, I enjoyed it anyway and found it very readable. The characters were often pretty annoying, but felt very real - she's got it spot on the way small children can be really annoying, constantly arguing with each other about nothing! It's well written, and is much more about women and their "ordinary" lives but with a hint of menace than an actual mystery. It reminded me much more of Anita Brookner or Elizabeth Jane Howard than any mystery/crime novels I've read. Which isn't a bad thing - they are great writers.
I know her other books have been republished too, and I'd definitely pick up one of those, based on this.
That said, I enjoyed it anyway and found it very readable. The characters were often pretty annoying, but felt very real - she's got it spot on the way small children can be really annoying, constantly arguing with each other about nothing! It's well written, and is much more about women and their "ordinary" lives but with a hint of menace than an actual mystery. It reminded me much more of Anita Brookner or Elizabeth Jane Howard than any mystery/crime novels I've read. Which isn't a bad thing - they are great writers.
I know her other books have been republished too, and I'd definitely pick up one of those, based on this.