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Bridge Of Fear
Book by Eden, Dorothy
190 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
59 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy Eden
95 books167 followersAka Mary Paradise.
Dorothy Eden was born in 1912 in New Zealand and died in 1982. She moved to England in 1954 after taking a trip around the world and falling in love with the country. She was best known for her many mystery and romance books as well as short stories that were published in periodicals. As a novelist, Dorothy Eden was renowned for her ability to create fear and suspense. This earned her many devoted readers throughout her lifetime.
Dorothy Eden was born in 1912 in New Zealand and died in 1982. She moved to England in 1954 after taking a trip around the world and falling in love with the country. She was best known for her many mystery and romance books as well as short stories that were published in periodicals. As a novelist, Dorothy Eden was renowned for her ability to create fear and suspense. This earned her many devoted readers throughout her lifetime.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 3, 2023
There is a lot to love in this slightly bonkers gothic-adjacent mystery. The MC is plucky, the gaslighting is strong, and the travelogue-esque sense of place is both vivid and delightfully sinister. Australia comes across as both delightful and nightmarish in equal measure. While the plot ultimately does make a sort of sense, to get there requires some amusingly strange actions from the MC and equally strange reactions from everyone else. Over all it was quite fun and a quick read.
On the downside, however, there is some racist language and attitudes aimed at the Chinese. This is typical of the era but jarring none the less.
On the downside, however, there is some racist language and attitudes aimed at the Chinese. This is typical of the era but jarring none the less.
couldnt-get-into
June 5, 2014Despite the reprint as a gothic, it's not one. The 1961 heroine just looks idiotic, weak, and lazy today (why doesn't she go get a job, you can't help but think, if she hates being inside her house all day with nothing to do?) One of the reasons gothics from even the mid-50's still work is that the heroines are smart and spunky. This girl is neither. And there are no gothic elements. It is set in Australia's summer, and it's sweltering, not foggy, and they're in the city, not isolated.
December 1, 2021
A newlywed couple move into a house that is overlooked by a much larger, older house which is inhabited my a sinister family, including a beautiful potential rival for her husband's affection. The elements of mystery in the story are quite well written, as the heroine is constantly perplexed and confused by events that don't seem to make sense, but her meekness and obedience when she's being manipulated become infuriating (for the reader) at times. However it is worth reading to discover how the author explains all of the odd goings on and ties everything together at the end. The change of title from "Afternoon For Lizards" is pretty arbitrary as there is no "bridge of fear" in the story.
December 30, 2022
Set beneath a blazing Australian sun, this is the 1950s domestic thriller that Don't Worry Darling wishes it was.
I found this amongst the old pile of books of one of my second cousins in their remote Australian farmhouse with a cheerful, attractive orange hard back cover and the unassuming title "Afternoon for Lizards" in a jolly childish font. I can't find that edition on google, it was much brighter and more stylish so I wish I'd snapped a pic! Hilariously, it had been gifted to her by her in the 1970s by her Sunday school teacher, who I can only assume read the back blurb (which was actually an ad for one of Eden's other novels, about a group of lucky and presumably god fearing New Zealand pioneers) and not the front jacket flap... which would have made it clear that this novel was NOT Lutheran Sunday school approved!
I picked this up thinking I'd read a chapter but soon found myself so gripped, and genuinely frightened, that I stayed up the whole night to finish it.
Although Eden was apparently a huge seller, I think since she wrote mainly Gothic romance and "women's fiction", she's been a lot more forgotten than other authors who've been canonised into syllabus-worthy literature. I've never heard of this authour before and I've read very few novels from the 50s, so I had nothing to compare it to in tone or era but Nancy Drew. So imagine my surprise when it became increasingly obvious that this mystery would deal explicitly with drugs and even (albeit less explicitly) sex.
With the gothic suspense of Rebecca and the Aussie glamour of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, I felt that this was just begging to be pulled out of the storeroom and made into a lavish TV mini series. There's so many gorgeous visual and auditory motifs -- the pink Galah lipstick, Deidre tapping on the window, Abby disappearing into a crowd in her scarlet suit, the strains of the love song about the roo and the platypus trailing over the river...
Unfortunately the ending really stacks it.
(Review TBC)
I found this amongst the old pile of books of one of my second cousins in their remote Australian farmhouse with a cheerful, attractive orange hard back cover and the unassuming title "Afternoon for Lizards" in a jolly childish font. I can't find that edition on google, it was much brighter and more stylish so I wish I'd snapped a pic! Hilariously, it had been gifted to her by her in the 1970s by her Sunday school teacher, who I can only assume read the back blurb (which was actually an ad for one of Eden's other novels, about a group of lucky and presumably god fearing New Zealand pioneers) and not the front jacket flap... which would have made it clear that this novel was NOT Lutheran Sunday school approved!
I picked this up thinking I'd read a chapter but soon found myself so gripped, and genuinely frightened, that I stayed up the whole night to finish it.
Although Eden was apparently a huge seller, I think since she wrote mainly Gothic romance and "women's fiction", she's been a lot more forgotten than other authors who've been canonised into syllabus-worthy literature. I've never heard of this authour before and I've read very few novels from the 50s, so I had nothing to compare it to in tone or era but Nancy Drew. So imagine my surprise when it became increasingly obvious that this mystery would deal explicitly with drugs and even (albeit less explicitly) sex.
With the gothic suspense of Rebecca and the Aussie glamour of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, I felt that this was just begging to be pulled out of the storeroom and made into a lavish TV mini series. There's so many gorgeous visual and auditory motifs -- the pink Galah lipstick, Deidre tapping on the window, Abby disappearing into a crowd in her scarlet suit, the strains of the love song about the roo and the platypus trailing over the river...
Unfortunately the ending really stacks it.
(Review TBC)
July 5, 2022
The heroine travels all the way to Australia to marry the man she loves. However, later it is revealed that she, infact, pressed him to marry her rightaway when he claimed he needed more time! Duh,..So she has trouble adjusting to life in Australia, and she speculates about everyone she meets.. the story was not too bad, but not too good either.
September 19, 2025
In this mystery/suspense, a young bride comes to a new country and discovers that her husband isn't what she thought him to be. This was a quick read, full of tension and uncertainty. I figured out a good portion, but it was completely engrossing and entertaining.
January 20, 2018
Good, suspenseful read. Gothic tones but more mystery. Dorothy Eden creates flawed characters well.
October 15, 2020
D+. fiction, romantic suspense, Australia, from stash, discard
February 7, 2022
A original Dorthy Eden book. A classical read.
November 5, 2025
This book had me hooked from the very start. Dorothy Eden really does a great job in this one of giving us a sense of dread and fear of being in a new place. The main character feels she is being watched and you can easily slip into her shoes and feel the chills. There is a sense of danger around every corner and the descriptions of the neighborhood are pretty good, too. I had a real vision in my mind of what the neighborhood looked like and where each house sat in relation to one another.
The main character seemed a little off-putting at first, but she grew on me as the story went on. There are several interesting characters and places in this book and it just feels like a real place with real people. I was fully engaged with this story the whole way through.
I did love The Brooding Lake slightly more. The reason is because The Brooding Lake had more of the setting I enjoy reading about, which is an abandoned feel where the garden or the property itself is overgrown and very lush.
Bridge of Fear has great description, too, but the descriptions were more focused on the overall dread and fear of what was going on than it was focused on greenery and environment. Both nailed the descriptions that they offered, though, as they set the stage beautifully in both books.
If you loved An Afternoon Walk or The Brooding Lake, I think you'll like this one almost as much, too.
The main character seemed a little off-putting at first, but she grew on me as the story went on. There are several interesting characters and places in this book and it just feels like a real place with real people. I was fully engaged with this story the whole way through.
I did love The Brooding Lake slightly more. The reason is because The Brooding Lake had more of the setting I enjoy reading about, which is an abandoned feel where the garden or the property itself is overgrown and very lush.
Bridge of Fear has great description, too, but the descriptions were more focused on the overall dread and fear of what was going on than it was focused on greenery and environment. Both nailed the descriptions that they offered, though, as they set the stage beautifully in both books.
If you loved An Afternoon Walk or The Brooding Lake, I think you'll like this one almost as much, too.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews