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Un réveillon mortel
The five guests at the inn on a remote Scottish island have at least one thing in common—they are all in flight from Christmas. Are their respective unhappinesses impervious to the influence of the uncanny? This shrewd and witty gem, originally published in 1990, won the Best Novel award from Britain's Writers' Guild.
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1990
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About the author
Alice Thomas Ellis
46 books84 followersAlice Thomas Ellis was short-listed for the Booker prize for The 27th Kingdom. She is the author of A Welsh Childhood (autobiography), Fairy Tale and several other novels including The Summerhouse Trilogy, made into a movie starring Jeanne Moreau and Joan Plowright.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
October 31, 2025
I remember that I read this a long time ago, and as I arrive at the review box, I see I gave it 2 stars, and no review. Good, that shows I've improved in my reading abilities - that's a relief. This is a postmodern book, or rather a book using postmodern ideas and theories. It means that the characters, and the plot, the background, the setting, the dialogue everything actually comes across as a bit of a mess; there are no chapters for instance, no convenient divisions, where you can put the book down and take a break - just as in real life, no break. And that's Ellis' point. To my great amusement she has one of her main characters, Jessica, take a copy of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, with her on the Christmas break to the Edge of the World, an inn on a remote Scottish Island. We're told an island in the Outer Hebrides and when Jessica and Harry take a walk together along the shore, it becomes possible to identify which one: 'We're coming to the Point,' said Harry when they had walked for a while. 'Beyond that head there's nothing until Iceland.'
I've included that detail and then I will withhold it from you, the name of the Island, which is a little frustrating and pointless, seeing as I led you down that particular path in the first place, but that's what Ellis likes to do also, or so it seems. At the beginning she appears to offer various bits and pieces of plot and character, but then just as rapidly undoes what she has offered. Like any reader, I found that frustrating. Most of us like to have the story delivered in a meaningful way. But Ellis, isn't writing just to annoy or befuddle us, she does in fact have a purpose.
Has anyone watched the famous film with Johnny Depp, The Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End? I caught the importance of Edge, when I remembered that the Black Pearl sails off the edge of the world, and into another realm.
The Inn, at the Edge of the World means there is nothing beyond, or
perhaps only what is unknown.. The unknown, unseen, unexplored and unknowable, is I think what Ellis' novel is all about. She is exploring the limits of what we know; and our difficulties with considering what is beyond.
To retract from the disturbing venture All of Ellis' characters struck me as unresolved; the one who stands out as a person, with order and knowledge of himself is the ex-army man, Harry. He allows Jessica to encroach on his privacy and time, and does so with great kindness towards her. In fact Harry might be what we recognise as a hero, and I don't mean a war hero, I mean in the literary sense and tradition; the hero, the one in the story whom we aspire to emulate, the one we recognise as better than most, better than ourself in fact.
That brings me back to Helen Huntingdon. Jessica loathes Helen; she finds her unbelievably sanctimonious, and delights in finding any possible fault with her; which is also quite a fun thing to read about. I've just read The Tenant in a reading group; and the general cry there was "Oh, she's too good to be true" and actually they are right. I loved Helen, I loved her stoic hero status, her endless determination to outwit the awful Arthur and save her little Arthur. Here's a scene when Harry and Jessica, happen by chance to share the train journey together:
She had been reading for some time with increasing incredulity. As the train neared the Lake District she flung the book from her on to the table with a cry of 'Oh no!'
Harry smiled inquiringly as to the reason behind her histrionic gesture. While as yet they were unaware that they shared a destination, each had been covertly observing the other with quiet approval, assuming that they were the same sort of human being. They looked alike. Harry was handsome with clear eyes and white hair and Jessica had a large pleasant, face, which she could, when called upon, make beautiful. This is the most successful sort of face for an actress.
'Have you read this?' she demanded, indicating her book.
Harry picked it up and looked at it. 'No,' he said, 'I'm afraid I haven't.'
'Don't be afraid,' said Jessica. 'It's terrible. The heroine is terrible.' The train sped through as she spoke. 'Listen,' she said, opening the book at random. 'Now, she's been playing the piano. This is her: "I was exerting myself to sing and play for the amusement, and at the request, of my aunt and Millicent, before the gentlemen came into the drawing room . . .
Jessica reads out the scene, and one I remember well whereby Helen is upset by Mr H's lack of interest in her. He prefers Miss Wilmot to play and sing, and Helen reprimands herself for being unable to bear the slight, and sees how she could have behaved with indifference to the situation, but can't.
'She reminds me of somebody,' added Jessica thoughtfully..
Here of course the reader wants to laugh, because the answer is obvious.
The section continues with another element of how we construct both ourselves and others:
A traveller at an adjacent table was puzzled by this exchange. She had watched Harry and Jessica get on the train separately and they hadn't said a word to each other until now. Yet they obviously knew each other well. She had been wondering why Jessica looked so familiar, but gave up racking her memory in order to speculate on their relationship. [ . . .]
'Aah,' said Jessica. 'Tears are rising unbidden to her eyes and she's burying her head in the sofa cushions that they might flow unseen. What a creep.'
'Would you like to read the Spectator?' offered Harry.
I really enjoyed that whole section, and it continues, with further observances by the unidentified fellow passenger. In fact all of the sections with Harry and Jessica are probably some of the most enjoyable and indeed easier parts to read. I think it's because they follow the conventions we expect from a novel. We've been led to consider that they make a suitable pair and we can't help but imagine a nice romantic ending. Ellis, having set us up, however foils these expectations. She destroys our hopes and predictions. And that's partly why a large part of the book is also quite difficult to read. We are in fact consistently foiled in our expectations, nothing it seems will pan out in the way we would like it to.
The other character whom we come to know quite well, is Eric, the inn owner, but he is completely conflicted in everything from his attempts to be a good host, and an effective owner, as in running the business, to his relationship with Mabel, his wife, who flees away on the boat that is picking up his guests:
Eric jumped. His wife walked about as silently as a house fly. She stood in the doorway and to prove how cold she was feeling, clutched her cardigan across her chest with both hands. 'It's so sodding cold' she said.
I've lit the fire in the bar,' said Eric.
'Waste of money,' said his wife 'there'll be nobody in.'
Not for the first time Eric tried to imagine how he'd feel if he murdered her.
We gradually come to understand that Eric is conflicted about every decision he makes and every thought he has. He's disconnected from himself. At the beginning he is completely relieved when Mabel runs off to stay with her mates in Glasgow, and Eric considers that she will sleep with them, and then towards the end, we understand he is missing her badly. He denies categorically to Jessica: 'I'm not lonely; too much to do around here,' but actually it is his most pressing concern. He dithers in his relations with everyone, the guests, the locals, the islanders. He wants to be the boss and organiser in his inn, but realises it would be impossible to run it without the help of Finlay and Finlay's sister-in-law who frequently pours a stiff whisky for - anyone! Both of them, carry out their duties, swiftly and expertly with barely a need to consult Eric, but he resents that. Eric feels the islanders exclude him in a silent but purposeful manner.
There are several other guests, the awful psychoanalyst, Ronald, who is completely oblivious to the overtures Anita makes to him; she fantasizes about him, considering that being Ronald's wife, will resolve all of her current problems. She doesn't like her job, as a department manager in a big store in London, and she regrets her single life; and she in turn, is unaware of Ronald's utter indifference to her. Anita keeps trotting out her potential wifely qualities for his benefit: calling for more coffee when it is cold, concerned for Ronald's health. He complains of a pressure on top of his head; 'would he like one of her aspirins?' etc. The whole interaction between them would be funny, if only it wasn't so entirely plausible.
The more I write about this book, and the more I think about it, the more I realise how clever it is and how beautifully constructed, and as in all reviews I've barely touched on its complexity and elegance. There is plenty to be said, about the other characters, the odd connection between Jon and Harry; the oddness of Finlay; the charlatan professor with his endless retinue of young girls in a particular duffel coat; or Mrs H. Here is Jessica doing a rundown of that character's Christmas attire:
It was night-time in the bar and outside the snow was at last beginning to fall, bringing an illusion of warmth and safety to the denizens of the inn.
'Isn't this cosy,' said Mrs H., taking off her anorak to reveal a blue dress, sequinned on the shoulders and hips. It was, supposed Jessica, what is known as a cocktail frock, one of a species now largely extinct except on remote islands. 'I'd've thought they'd shot the last one years ago,' she said to herself feeling out of place again; lost and defenceless in the alien and unfashionable ambience. 'It must have been hiding in a corner all lonely and afraid. It's probably terrified now that a colleague will bag it . . . '
'Did you have a nice lunch?' asked Mrs H. 'I've left John washing up.' She looked around to see if by any chance there were any new men available for the evening and was disappointed, though unastonished. 'What a dump,' she said, not critically nor even sadly, but as one remarking on a fact. Eric frowned but did not contradict her.
Jessica's convoluted thoughts about Mrs H's dress, would have identified her as being as odd as Mrs H., if not more so, should anyone have overheard her. Jessica's references to shooting and an extinct species, the reader understands connects to her fears about Jon, whom she's only just described to Harry as something lurking and prowling as if he were an animal in a jungle. Jon indeed has murderous intentions towards Jessica, and she is more than right to be alert and afraid. Mrs H. on the other hand seems reasonably normal, especially as we've been privy to all of Anita's thoughts reference Ronald; and we do indeed know that Eric himself thinks the place a dump.
So, there is this wonderful and continuous interplay of what is said, as opposed to what is thought. And we are in the marvellous position of having access to most of the characters' spoken words and with the six central figures, most of their internal musings also. It gives us a peculiar fly-on-the wall perspective, but still we are unable to predict how they will change or evolve from moment to moment. Most of the characters think one thing, only to change their minds and it just goes on and on.
Some readers will be baffled, and others will enjoy the close approximation to real life, and still others will flux between the two. I think I was thrown for about the first 150 pages, but in the second half of the book, I started to warm to their inconsistencies and stalled intentions and baffling non sequiturs, realising that Ellis has recreated a very good slice-of-life with truly three-dimensional characters in her fictious world. It's really good, but be warned, be prepared to leave your expectations on the mat that says 'Welcome.'
I've included that detail and then I will withhold it from you, the name of the Island, which is a little frustrating and pointless, seeing as I led you down that particular path in the first place, but that's what Ellis likes to do also, or so it seems. At the beginning she appears to offer various bits and pieces of plot and character, but then just as rapidly undoes what she has offered. Like any reader, I found that frustrating. Most of us like to have the story delivered in a meaningful way. But Ellis, isn't writing just to annoy or befuddle us, she does in fact have a purpose.
Has anyone watched the famous film with Johnny Depp, The Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End? I caught the importance of Edge, when I remembered that the Black Pearl sails off the edge of the world, and into another realm.
The Inn, at the Edge of the World means there is nothing beyond, or
perhaps only what is unknown.. The unknown, unseen, unexplored and unknowable, is I think what Ellis' novel is all about. She is exploring the limits of what we know; and our difficulties with considering what is beyond.
To retract from the disturbing venture All of Ellis' characters struck me as unresolved; the one who stands out as a person, with order and knowledge of himself is the ex-army man, Harry. He allows Jessica to encroach on his privacy and time, and does so with great kindness towards her. In fact Harry might be what we recognise as a hero, and I don't mean a war hero, I mean in the literary sense and tradition; the hero, the one in the story whom we aspire to emulate, the one we recognise as better than most, better than ourself in fact.
That brings me back to Helen Huntingdon. Jessica loathes Helen; she finds her unbelievably sanctimonious, and delights in finding any possible fault with her; which is also quite a fun thing to read about. I've just read The Tenant in a reading group; and the general cry there was "Oh, she's too good to be true" and actually they are right. I loved Helen, I loved her stoic hero status, her endless determination to outwit the awful Arthur and save her little Arthur. Here's a scene when Harry and Jessica, happen by chance to share the train journey together:
She had been reading for some time with increasing incredulity. As the train neared the Lake District she flung the book from her on to the table with a cry of 'Oh no!'
Harry smiled inquiringly as to the reason behind her histrionic gesture. While as yet they were unaware that they shared a destination, each had been covertly observing the other with quiet approval, assuming that they were the same sort of human being. They looked alike. Harry was handsome with clear eyes and white hair and Jessica had a large pleasant, face, which she could, when called upon, make beautiful. This is the most successful sort of face for an actress.
'Have you read this?' she demanded, indicating her book.
Harry picked it up and looked at it. 'No,' he said, 'I'm afraid I haven't.'
'Don't be afraid,' said Jessica. 'It's terrible. The heroine is terrible.' The train sped through as she spoke. 'Listen,' she said, opening the book at random. 'Now, she's been playing the piano. This is her: "I was exerting myself to sing and play for the amusement, and at the request, of my aunt and Millicent, before the gentlemen came into the drawing room . . .
Jessica reads out the scene, and one I remember well whereby Helen is upset by Mr H's lack of interest in her. He prefers Miss Wilmot to play and sing, and Helen reprimands herself for being unable to bear the slight, and sees how she could have behaved with indifference to the situation, but can't.
'She reminds me of somebody,' added Jessica thoughtfully..
Here of course the reader wants to laugh, because the answer is obvious.
The section continues with another element of how we construct both ourselves and others:
A traveller at an adjacent table was puzzled by this exchange. She had watched Harry and Jessica get on the train separately and they hadn't said a word to each other until now. Yet they obviously knew each other well. She had been wondering why Jessica looked so familiar, but gave up racking her memory in order to speculate on their relationship. [ . . .]
'Aah,' said Jessica. 'Tears are rising unbidden to her eyes and she's burying her head in the sofa cushions that they might flow unseen. What a creep.'
'Would you like to read the Spectator?' offered Harry.
I really enjoyed that whole section, and it continues, with further observances by the unidentified fellow passenger. In fact all of the sections with Harry and Jessica are probably some of the most enjoyable and indeed easier parts to read. I think it's because they follow the conventions we expect from a novel. We've been led to consider that they make a suitable pair and we can't help but imagine a nice romantic ending. Ellis, having set us up, however foils these expectations. She destroys our hopes and predictions. And that's partly why a large part of the book is also quite difficult to read. We are in fact consistently foiled in our expectations, nothing it seems will pan out in the way we would like it to.
The other character whom we come to know quite well, is Eric, the inn owner, but he is completely conflicted in everything from his attempts to be a good host, and an effective owner, as in running the business, to his relationship with Mabel, his wife, who flees away on the boat that is picking up his guests:
Eric jumped. His wife walked about as silently as a house fly. She stood in the doorway and to prove how cold she was feeling, clutched her cardigan across her chest with both hands. 'It's so sodding cold' she said.
I've lit the fire in the bar,' said Eric.
'Waste of money,' said his wife 'there'll be nobody in.'
Not for the first time Eric tried to imagine how he'd feel if he murdered her.
We gradually come to understand that Eric is conflicted about every decision he makes and every thought he has. He's disconnected from himself. At the beginning he is completely relieved when Mabel runs off to stay with her mates in Glasgow, and Eric considers that she will sleep with them, and then towards the end, we understand he is missing her badly. He denies categorically to Jessica: 'I'm not lonely; too much to do around here,' but actually it is his most pressing concern. He dithers in his relations with everyone, the guests, the locals, the islanders. He wants to be the boss and organiser in his inn, but realises it would be impossible to run it without the help of Finlay and Finlay's sister-in-law who frequently pours a stiff whisky for - anyone! Both of them, carry out their duties, swiftly and expertly with barely a need to consult Eric, but he resents that. Eric feels the islanders exclude him in a silent but purposeful manner.
There are several other guests, the awful psychoanalyst, Ronald, who is completely oblivious to the overtures Anita makes to him; she fantasizes about him, considering that being Ronald's wife, will resolve all of her current problems. She doesn't like her job, as a department manager in a big store in London, and she regrets her single life; and she in turn, is unaware of Ronald's utter indifference to her. Anita keeps trotting out her potential wifely qualities for his benefit: calling for more coffee when it is cold, concerned for Ronald's health. He complains of a pressure on top of his head; 'would he like one of her aspirins?' etc. The whole interaction between them would be funny, if only it wasn't so entirely plausible.
The more I write about this book, and the more I think about it, the more I realise how clever it is and how beautifully constructed, and as in all reviews I've barely touched on its complexity and elegance. There is plenty to be said, about the other characters, the odd connection between Jon and Harry; the oddness of Finlay; the charlatan professor with his endless retinue of young girls in a particular duffel coat; or Mrs H. Here is Jessica doing a rundown of that character's Christmas attire:
It was night-time in the bar and outside the snow was at last beginning to fall, bringing an illusion of warmth and safety to the denizens of the inn.
'Isn't this cosy,' said Mrs H., taking off her anorak to reveal a blue dress, sequinned on the shoulders and hips. It was, supposed Jessica, what is known as a cocktail frock, one of a species now largely extinct except on remote islands. 'I'd've thought they'd shot the last one years ago,' she said to herself feeling out of place again; lost and defenceless in the alien and unfashionable ambience. 'It must have been hiding in a corner all lonely and afraid. It's probably terrified now that a colleague will bag it . . . '
'Did you have a nice lunch?' asked Mrs H. 'I've left John washing up.' She looked around to see if by any chance there were any new men available for the evening and was disappointed, though unastonished. 'What a dump,' she said, not critically nor even sadly, but as one remarking on a fact. Eric frowned but did not contradict her.
Jessica's convoluted thoughts about Mrs H's dress, would have identified her as being as odd as Mrs H., if not more so, should anyone have overheard her. Jessica's references to shooting and an extinct species, the reader understands connects to her fears about Jon, whom she's only just described to Harry as something lurking and prowling as if he were an animal in a jungle. Jon indeed has murderous intentions towards Jessica, and she is more than right to be alert and afraid. Mrs H. on the other hand seems reasonably normal, especially as we've been privy to all of Anita's thoughts reference Ronald; and we do indeed know that Eric himself thinks the place a dump.
So, there is this wonderful and continuous interplay of what is said, as opposed to what is thought. And we are in the marvellous position of having access to most of the characters' spoken words and with the six central figures, most of their internal musings also. It gives us a peculiar fly-on-the wall perspective, but still we are unable to predict how they will change or evolve from moment to moment. Most of the characters think one thing, only to change their minds and it just goes on and on.
Some readers will be baffled, and others will enjoy the close approximation to real life, and still others will flux between the two. I think I was thrown for about the first 150 pages, but in the second half of the book, I started to warm to their inconsistencies and stalled intentions and baffling non sequiturs, realising that Ellis has recreated a very good slice-of-life with truly three-dimensional characters in her fictious world. It's really good, but be warned, be prepared to leave your expectations on the mat that says 'Welcome.'
September 17, 2019
Alice Thomas Ellis has been called the British Flannery O’Connor and with good reason. She is wry, dry, acerbic, and has a razor-sharp wit. Her characters are recognizable people, mostly pathetic and the situations leave you searching for fresh air. Oh, and she was a practicing Roman Catholic writer who died in March 2005. Unlike O’Connor, however, Ellis was a married mother of five children. In addition to her novels, she also wrote about home life, which gives a different dimension to her writing—I don’t say better, just alternative or even added—but something she shares in common with me, not the writing part, just the married and mother. I have started her Home Life, the first of a collection of four books of her articles which I bought years ago from A Common Reader, (where I first heard of her) a couple of times. It is good, but so British, and not an easy or quick read. I mean to try again now that I am older and finally (hopefully) ready to really appreciate the series.
Thomas Meagher, Editorial Director of A Common Reader has written a charming Afterword in this edition, published by Akadine Press. Time was, I felt like I was single-handedly trying to keep A Common Reader and Akadine* in business, but I never bought this particular book, or any of her fiction except, The Summer House: A Trilogy, which I loved! I had to hunt down a used copy and suppose I’ll have to do the same for her other novels.
In The Inn at the Edge of the World five single adults from London—supposed strangers to each other—select our titular inn, on an island off the Scottish coast to ‘escape’ Christmas. Of course, they are really trying to escape—or pursue in one case—more than Christmas, which is the plot of the story. And we all know there is no escaping oneself, or one’s ‘issues’, as they are called today. Wherever we go, there we are, because there is no escaping the God, which we carry within and the modern world continues to deny.
This isn’t a happy story, though it is darkly humorous throughout. Christians, I believe, will appreciate the irony the most.
Highly recommended. Didn’t enjoy it so much as The Summer House, but very worthwhile read.
*Even my generosity wasn’t enough. In January 2006, it folded and I felt like I lost a friend.
September 12, 2019: When I first saw the movie of Ellis's The Summer House: A Trilogy, I thought it was the strangest AND funniest movie I had ever seen. There were SO many good lines and quirky characters in it, I had to track down the book, though I had never heard of the author. This was years ago. She was my favorite author for awhile, though I never followed up on it. This is LONG overdue!
Thomas Meagher, Editorial Director of A Common Reader has written a charming Afterword in this edition, published by Akadine Press. Time was, I felt like I was single-handedly trying to keep A Common Reader and Akadine* in business, but I never bought this particular book, or any of her fiction except, The Summer House: A Trilogy, which I loved! I had to hunt down a used copy and suppose I’ll have to do the same for her other novels.
In The Inn at the Edge of the World five single adults from London—supposed strangers to each other—select our titular inn, on an island off the Scottish coast to ‘escape’ Christmas. Of course, they are really trying to escape—or pursue in one case—more than Christmas, which is the plot of the story. And we all know there is no escaping oneself, or one’s ‘issues’, as they are called today. Wherever we go, there we are, because there is no escaping the God, which we carry within and the modern world continues to deny.
This isn’t a happy story, though it is darkly humorous throughout. Christians, I believe, will appreciate the irony the most.
Highly recommended. Didn’t enjoy it so much as The Summer House, but very worthwhile read.
*Even my generosity wasn’t enough. In January 2006, it folded and I felt like I lost a friend.
September 12, 2019: When I first saw the movie of Ellis's The Summer House: A Trilogy, I thought it was the strangest AND funniest movie I had ever seen. There were SO many good lines and quirky characters in it, I had to track down the book, though I had never heard of the author. This was years ago. She was my favorite author for awhile, though I never followed up on it. This is LONG overdue!
September 28, 2025
Alice Thomas Ellis has a humorous side, and a snarky one. She states her truth and leaves you with it, having no second thoughts.
The quick and dirty on this is: Eric and Mabel are caught up in the middle of a rocky marriage. As usual the dream they land on to save themselves doesn't. They find an inn in the middle of the Hebrides (western islands at the edge of Scotland see Inner and Outer) that someone is selling for next to nothing. They get there, and Mabel skedaddles. The Christmas season is approaching and Eric decides he's going to make it work by returning it to its commercial status and before much has been done at all, he puts ads throughout the UK. (before you get to thinking this would be a great read for Christmas you wouldn't be wrong, but it's more anti-Christmas than not. . . .)
Throughout the UK 5 people are running away from their families for that season and sign up and converge on a lonely, atmospheric island of unknown (specifically) location.
I love this book. The more time that passes since the last page was read, the more I realize I'm still engaged with it. . . a sign of true love for this reader, so 4 stars for now, but if I continue to think of this that I'm so moved, I reserve the right to 5 star it.
Spoiler, not really, but a warning that the author gives herself on the page before page one:
It is not given to the Seal People to be ever content. . . .for their land -- longings shall be sea -- longings and their sea -- longings shall be land -- longings.
25|52:9a
The quick and dirty on this is: Eric and Mabel are caught up in the middle of a rocky marriage. As usual the dream they land on to save themselves doesn't. They find an inn in the middle of the Hebrides (western islands at the edge of Scotland see Inner and Outer) that someone is selling for next to nothing. They get there, and Mabel skedaddles. The Christmas season is approaching and Eric decides he's going to make it work by returning it to its commercial status and before much has been done at all, he puts ads throughout the UK. (before you get to thinking this would be a great read for Christmas you wouldn't be wrong, but it's more anti-Christmas than not. . . .)
Throughout the UK 5 people are running away from their families for that season and sign up and converge on a lonely, atmospheric island of unknown (specifically) location.
I love this book. The more time that passes since the last page was read, the more I realize I'm still engaged with it. . . a sign of true love for this reader, so 4 stars for now, but if I continue to think of this that I'm so moved, I reserve the right to 5 star it.
Spoiler, not really, but a warning that the author gives herself on the page before page one:
It is not given to the Seal People to be ever content. . . .for their land -- longings shall be sea -- longings and their sea -- longings shall be land -- longings.
25|52:9a
June 29, 2017
4 stars! I love the unexpected elements.
July 24, 2025
Eric and Mabel moved from the Midlands to run a hotel on a remote Scottish island. He places an advertisement in select London periodicals to lure in some Christmas-haters for the holidays and attracts a motley group: a bereaved former soldier writing a biography of General Gordon, a pair of actors known only for commercials, a psychoanalyst, and a department store buyer looking for a novel sweater pattern. Mabel decides she’s had enough and flees the island just as the guests start arriving. One guest is stalking another; one has history on the island. And all along, there are hints that this is a site of major selkie activity. I found it jarring how the novella moved from Shena Mackay-like social comedy into magic realism and doubt I’ll read more by Ellis (I’d already read one volume of Home Life), though this was light and enjoyable enough.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
December 16, 2024
Oh I loved this weird book. I can understand all the three star ratings but I thought it was such a cleverly observed dark comedy.
Another reviewer pointed out that sometimes Alice Thomas Ellis is called a Welsh Flannery O'Connor. I think a better description is Elizabeth Taylor mixed with O'Connor.
Also who else writes such brilliant zingers like these?
"This might have been true, but when people had been with Jon for any length of time they ceased to believe a single word he said. If he claimed to have a nose, mouth, and ears they would disregard the evidence of their senses and automatically assume that, in one way or another, he must be exaggerating."
"'A brandy and soda will do you little harm,' said Harry.
'Try telling that to Helen Huntington,' said Jessica, 'and she'll slip you an ipecacuanha.'"
"'I am terrible,' said Jessica, downing her glass of juice. It tasted, she thought, like the urine of demons."
Really excellent afterword by Thomas Meager in my edition, too.
Another reviewer pointed out that sometimes Alice Thomas Ellis is called a Welsh Flannery O'Connor. I think a better description is Elizabeth Taylor mixed with O'Connor.
Also who else writes such brilliant zingers like these?
"This might have been true, but when people had been with Jon for any length of time they ceased to believe a single word he said. If he claimed to have a nose, mouth, and ears they would disregard the evidence of their senses and automatically assume that, in one way or another, he must be exaggerating."
"'A brandy and soda will do you little harm,' said Harry.
'Try telling that to Helen Huntington,' said Jessica, 'and she'll slip you an ipecacuanha.'"
"'I am terrible,' said Jessica, downing her glass of juice. It tasted, she thought, like the urine of demons."
Really excellent afterword by Thomas Meager in my edition, too.
October 30, 2025
Original review from May 2006
’Have you noticed my fir?' asked the professor. Jessica, emerging from the sparse and anonymous forests of her imaginings, misunderstood him. Fur? Was he speaking of his own body hair? Was he perhaps a werewolf? Or was he drawing attention to some unappreciated mink, ocelot or garment of beaver?
'. . . planted it years ago,' he was saying. 'Whipped off the tinsel and the gewgaws, stuck it in the garden and now it's nearly sixty feet tall.'
An innkeeper on a remote Scottish island advertises a Christmas break for people who want to get away from the holiday season and five people turn up; a famous actress, an unknown actor, an elderly widower, a recently-divorced psychoanalyst and a shop manager.
I like this author's books - they're nice and short, the stories go in unexpected directions, and they usually have a touch of the uncanny about them.
Re-read for the Motley Fool online Book Club (Dec 2012/Jan 2013):
No-one else seemed to enjoy "The Inn at the Edge of the World", which I nominated because it's the only book with a Christmas setting that I own.
On re-reading it I found it quite old-fashioned, like a Muriel Spark book but without as many laughs. I've read a couple of the author's other books and they have the same kind of feel too.
I had forgotten about Mabel's webbed fingers until they were mentioned at the end. So it's probably because of her that they were really drawn to the island, rather than because of Eric's desire to run a country pub. I guess that's why she likes fur coats too.
’Have you noticed my fir?' asked the professor. Jessica, emerging from the sparse and anonymous forests of her imaginings, misunderstood him. Fur? Was he speaking of his own body hair? Was he perhaps a werewolf? Or was he drawing attention to some unappreciated mink, ocelot or garment of beaver?
'. . . planted it years ago,' he was saying. 'Whipped off the tinsel and the gewgaws, stuck it in the garden and now it's nearly sixty feet tall.'
An innkeeper on a remote Scottish island advertises a Christmas break for people who want to get away from the holiday season and five people turn up; a famous actress, an unknown actor, an elderly widower, a recently-divorced psychoanalyst and a shop manager.
I like this author's books - they're nice and short, the stories go in unexpected directions, and they usually have a touch of the uncanny about them.
Re-read for the Motley Fool online Book Club (Dec 2012/Jan 2013):
No-one else seemed to enjoy "The Inn at the Edge of the World", which I nominated because it's the only book with a Christmas setting that I own.
On re-reading it I found it quite old-fashioned, like a Muriel Spark book but without as many laughs. I've read a couple of the author's other books and they have the same kind of feel too.
I had forgotten about Mabel's webbed fingers until they were mentioned at the end. So it's probably because of her that they were really drawn to the island, rather than because of Eric's desire to run a country pub. I guess that's why she likes fur coats too.
October 23, 2009
As you'll imagine, it was the wonderful title that drew me to this book. The novel itself isn't, to be honest, quite as wonderful, but it's by no means a poor thing: I did like it, but it was a bit of a let-down after the title!
Eric, an Englishman who's bought a cottage hotel on a remote Hebridean island in the hopes that the isolation will stop his wife from sleeping around, places an ad in the English papers suggesting his hostelry as the ideal place for an Escape Christmas holiday. Five disparate people seize on the idea, and travel separately to spend a few days in seclusion among the islanders . . . and, it seems, the selkies; the islander called Finlay and his unnamed sister-in-law seem to be beyond even selkiedom, to be archetypal beings of some unidentified kind. What follows is really a comedy -- or tragicomedy -- of manners with supernatural overtones: I grinned a lot, laughed aloud a couple of times. The narrative technique is interesting too: an almost aggressive use of multiple viewpoints which is quite unsettling (in a good sense). All in all, a well spent few hours.
Eric, an Englishman who's bought a cottage hotel on a remote Hebridean island in the hopes that the isolation will stop his wife from sleeping around, places an ad in the English papers suggesting his hostelry as the ideal place for an Escape Christmas holiday. Five disparate people seize on the idea, and travel separately to spend a few days in seclusion among the islanders . . . and, it seems, the selkies; the islander called Finlay and his unnamed sister-in-law seem to be beyond even selkiedom, to be archetypal beings of some unidentified kind. What follows is really a comedy -- or tragicomedy -- of manners with supernatural overtones: I grinned a lot, laughed aloud a couple of times. The narrative technique is interesting too: an almost aggressive use of multiple viewpoints which is quite unsettling (in a good sense). All in all, a well spent few hours.
October 3, 2020
The Inn at the Edge of the World was one of those books that I constantly kept wishing for something to happen. Nothing was catching my attention and I seriously wanted to skim through most of this book. The only thing that kept me going was the characters. They were at least somewhat interesting and that's all I can really say at the moment.
I will say somethings were a bit funny but most of the time I was just annoyed or frustrated with this book. Once I got to the end, I felt a weight being lifted. I almost DNF'd this but since it was set around my favorite time of the year, Christmas, I wanted to see how this was going to end. Luckily for me the ending was kind of good and a fun twist... but I am mostly happy that it's finished.
I will say somethings were a bit funny but most of the time I was just annoyed or frustrated with this book. Once I got to the end, I felt a weight being lifted. I almost DNF'd this but since it was set around my favorite time of the year, Christmas, I wanted to see how this was going to end. Luckily for me the ending was kind of good and a fun twist... but I am mostly happy that it's finished.
December 22, 2011
Ellis is a clever, witty - indeed rather acerbic - writer I've not come across before. She adeptly conveys the atmosphere of a small inn on a grey, claustrophobic remote Scottish island where a group of guests have gathered to escape the Christmas season. I think I've been cured of wanting to do the same after reading this book, however! For all the interior dialogue, I'm not sure the characters are particularly three-dimensional, but it was a good read. The touch of the supernatural is well-done.
March 7, 2008
I tried to read this, I really did. The premise seemed good, but it was slow and the characters didn't really interest me. So, while I've rated it I only got about 20% of the book read....
December 20, 2010
Haven't read any Alice Thomas Ellis for a while but I picked this up in a second hand book shop a couple of weeks ago and I saw it was about five people wishing to get away and miss the Christmas festivities so I thought it'd be quite fun to read it at the proper season. It didn't disappoint. Her dialogue is clever and witty without being shoveled into the story to show how clever and witty she is. It has mystery, hinted at romance, echoes of supernatural goings on, jealousy and unrequited admiration. Add to that mix a couple of pantomime characters who are bizarre grotesques writ large but harmless and the gradual unfolding of a tension concerning some of the main characters and you have an easy to read but fairly tense story. Without giving anything away, one of the main underlying threads of the story is unravelled and re-wound very satisfactorily but others are left trailing and unresolved. And the final paragraph is deliciously obscure and a whole new set of questions arises.
December 28, 2009
Another of my seasonal reads, which I finished after coming home from my Christmas holiday. Set on a remote Scottish island that is steeped in the myths and magic of the Selkies this seasonal novel about human misery is surprisingly readable, and not quite as rubbish as I had thought it might be, it is also quite funny in parts. The supernatural aspects to the story are done with a light touch, and add to the atmosphere created. The characters are well drawn with a certain amount of tounge in cheek humor.
April 12, 2010
I am in the minority on this one. While I did find the characters interesting the book just didn't go anywhere quickly enough for me. I found myself simply wanting *something* to happen. Something does finally happen but by then I was so desperate for it, it wasn't nearly enough to up my star rating. Maybe I was in the wrong mood for this one as most of the humor struck me as annoying rather than clever.
December 18, 2017
I adore Alice Thomas Ellis and I have just finished this one. I read it during the pre Christmas chaos and it turned out to be great timing. The ending had a lovely little twist.
April 30, 2013
This novel has such a wonderful title, but I was disappointed that I never really settled into the story. The novel isn't divided into traditional chapters and without the break of chapters, I felt like I was slogging through a novel heavy on interior dialogue and light on plot. I had reached somewhere around page 130 before I sensed that something might happen. Maybe. Like the novel's remote locale of a Scottish island, the story always seemed distant to me as if I were watching the characters with binoculars from the mainland.
Five people, all attempting to escape Christmas assemble at the Inn at Edge of the World find that they can run, but they can't escape themselves. There are atmospheric moments, hints of mythical magic, and some witty discourse, but those things really couldn't save this slow novel for me. It probably would have been better had I been familiar with Celtic mythology of selkies, but really, I couldn't wait to escape the Inn at the Edge of the World.
Five people, all attempting to escape Christmas assemble at the Inn at Edge of the World find that they can run, but they can't escape themselves. There are atmospheric moments, hints of mythical magic, and some witty discourse, but those things really couldn't save this slow novel for me. It probably would have been better had I been familiar with Celtic mythology of selkies, but really, I couldn't wait to escape the Inn at the Edge of the World.
January 4, 2018
A quirky and enjoyable read. This short novel brings together 5 strangers all wanting to escape from Christmas jollies and all answer an advert for a Christmas free break away from it all. Eric is the host, along with his wife, who escapes to the mainland as the novel opens.
Each person has a different reason for answering Eric´s ad. Some characters are likeable, some not so much. Among the group there is a psychiatrist and an actress, one or two strange and bizarre characters seen through the eyes of others.
As a backdrop to this there is the myth and magic of the Selkies, elements of the supernatural, leaving the reader to question what is real and what is not. This is an intriguing read, and enticing to the end. Well worth a read, and intriguing for the lover of supernatural fiction (myself included).
Each person has a different reason for answering Eric´s ad. Some characters are likeable, some not so much. Among the group there is a psychiatrist and an actress, one or two strange and bizarre characters seen through the eyes of others.
As a backdrop to this there is the myth and magic of the Selkies, elements of the supernatural, leaving the reader to question what is real and what is not. This is an intriguing read, and enticing to the end. Well worth a read, and intriguing for the lover of supernatural fiction (myself included).
December 18, 2008
3.5 - Really enjoyable, fast read. I'm always a little bit "weirded-out" by anything supernatural, but she flowed it into the story well. The depression around the Christmas holiday really resonated for me...the idea of escaping to somewhere far away is so appealing and she paints the picture of that in a way that totally draws you in. But the reality isn't as perfect (which makes sense), but there is still learning involved, as in all interesting experiences. Highly recommend.
January 18, 2018
The only reason why this was read so quickly was because I wanted shot of it. This sounds so mean but it just went on and on... nevertheless it is well written sadly just not a tale that suits me but am sure others will enjoy. If you like books without chapters, where the story never ceases to end and to be reminded of reading texts for school then pick this. Thankfully with just 260 pages it can be a quick read. Am sure others will love it. Sadly not me.
March 19, 2010
An innkeeper on a remote Scottish island advertises his tiny inn as a holiday travel spot to get away from the holidays. Five travelers take him up on his advertisement and get both less and more than they bargained for when they encounter the native islanders, who are not quite what they seem.
December 22, 2010
Great book to read at Christmas,interesting cast of unrelated characters escaping from the holiday come together at an inn off the coast of Scotland and mix with the locals. Many laugh out loud scenes, interesting bits of history, and a wonderful sense of real place.
April 14, 2011
Marvelously sly and subtle little book. Innuendo. Hints. LOTS of interior dialogue used to build the main characters. Mist. Seals. Myth. PERFECT! on to the Sin Eaters (those are the only two in our library. I can see I'm going to have to spend some $$).
January 31, 2013
This book's continuous allusions to Selkie legends are subtle and strong. The carefully constructed tale reveals many characters to be either Selkies or somehow claimed by Selkies.
This book may look placid on the surface, but its undercurrents run both deep and rich.
This book may look placid on the surface, but its undercurrents run both deep and rich.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2021
I loved this book. Beautiful story which fills you with hope especially if you have been bereaved.
August 20, 2019
This is the story of five people who individually decide they want avoid Christmas and go somewhere remote to escape. They all rely to an advert in a newspaper from Eric, the owner of an inn on an island in the Hebrides, reached in the final stage by Finlay's boat. They characters are all very dissimilar, from an actor and an actress - who may have met before - to a widowed ex-soldier who may have links to the island, a girl who works in a store and a psychotherapist. The inn owner's wife leaves him to go off to the mainland, and he copes chaotically with this, as he tries to cope with the 5 guests. The group interact intriguingly, and an undercurrent of odd, supernatural events seems to arise, with odd sights and events. A local woman who knits jerseys for fishermen does different patterns so if the owner drowns, he can be identified, there is a brief glimpse of a local resident who seemed to drop human form, and it becomes apparent the island may have a a tendency to draw some people back. Intriguing.
October 17, 2020
An unusual Christmas tale: an unhappy innkeeper on a inhospitable island advertises for guests to come for Christmas in order to get away from Christmas--he promises no holiday fuss. Five lonely people show up--some of their lives are changed, some not. But this is no Hallmark Christmas story. Though written with a light touch, the characters are mostly pathetic and unhappy, and the ending is tragic for some, sad for others, and happy for only one character (if I'm reading the characters correctly). There are hints of the supernatural and one character seems lackadaisically suicidal at the beginning, so we are prepared for a non-traditional holiday ending. The myth of the Selkies (seal people--an element used by John Sayles in his movie The Secret of Roan Inish) and the author's Catholicism are both elements that affect the story, for me in ultimately unsatisfying ways.
February 5, 2021
Five individuals are attracted by an advertisement to spend Christmas on a remote Hebridean island, the inn at the edge of the world.
The hosts are Eric and Mable, relocated from England and out of place in a venture they hoped would bring them renewed enthusiasm for life, and of course, money.
Ex-military, Harry is writing a book about Gordon of Khartoum, and has his own reasons for his visit, Jessica is an attractive actress, Jon a young actor who has followed Jessica to the island, though she doesn’t remember him, Anita is a salesperson in a city department store, and Ronald is a divorced psychotherapist.
It’s a gentle story about relationships with the reader playing the part of observer, and it feels like an intrusion at times. It’s often sad, and occasionally funny, though published in 1990, some of the humour may have suffered through time.
The hosts are Eric and Mable, relocated from England and out of place in a venture they hoped would bring them renewed enthusiasm for life, and of course, money.
Ex-military, Harry is writing a book about Gordon of Khartoum, and has his own reasons for his visit, Jessica is an attractive actress, Jon a young actor who has followed Jessica to the island, though she doesn’t remember him, Anita is a salesperson in a city department store, and Ronald is a divorced psychotherapist.
It’s a gentle story about relationships with the reader playing the part of observer, and it feels like an intrusion at times. It’s often sad, and occasionally funny, though published in 1990, some of the humour may have suffered through time.
February 16, 2021
In “The Inn at the Edge of the World” five disgruntled Londoners flee the tedium of Christmas to enjoy the austere pleasures of a tiny island off the coast of Scotland, an island truly at the edge of the world, if by “the world” we mean the modern world of science and rationality. In Alice Thomas Ellis’s haunting little novel, her island is a very different place, a place where seals can shed their skins, take on a human form, and take jobs in a tiny inn, making the beds and cooking the food, while their sealskins wait for them, hanging unnoticed on a coat-rack. The five visitors are surrounded by marvels, by ghosts and selkies, and the unearthly music of nighttime revels on the sand, and the daytime reality wears a little thin, at times. But all things come to an end, and the novel ends with some returning to London, and some finding another, stranger, way home.
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December 18, 2022The Inn at the Edge of the World is born of a cynical, almost Scroogian worldview, where the only good men are neutered, the only sensible women are misanthropic, and anybody who thinks otherwise is worthy of scorn.
And yet, I found that I kept coming back to read more, and enjoyed my time doing so - like a conversation with a sardonic aquaintance, who you wish that you weren't impressed by.
The final act shards of magical realism in particular were captivating, and I only wish I hadn't needed to navigate through so many splinters of bitterness and distrust to reach them. Indeed, I think the book suffers from its indulgence in its own pessimism precisely because it unbalances the structure, giving the final ghostly images the aura of an afterthought, when they - possibly - deserve more.
And yet, I found that I kept coming back to read more, and enjoyed my time doing so - like a conversation with a sardonic aquaintance, who you wish that you weren't impressed by.
The final act shards of magical realism in particular were captivating, and I only wish I hadn't needed to navigate through so many splinters of bitterness and distrust to reach them. Indeed, I think the book suffers from its indulgence in its own pessimism precisely because it unbalances the structure, giving the final ghostly images the aura of an afterthought, when they - possibly - deserve more.
July 23, 2017
I’m not sure what possessed me to read a book (in July) about a Christmas spent at a remote inn off the coast of Scotland, but here we are. I liked it well enough, but I think it would work much better as a quick read for when you are stranded at a cabin somewhere in the snowy mountains or find yourself wanting to escape relatives at the holidays. It is very atmospheric and there are some lovely bits of writing, but it’s uneven. There are funny scenes and shrewd character observations, especially about courtship and relationships, but also parts (mostly when a character describes a book he’s writing) where I found myself skimming. In short, it’s oddly beautiful, but more needed to happen for me to embrace its oddities. This hovers between 2 and 3 stars.
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