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In a remote, crumbling house in the Fens live four sisters - Agatha, Milly, and Ellen and Esther, identical twins so closely linked as to be almost one person. They have lived there all their lives, trapped still by the fear of their dead father, who governs his daughters' lives from beyond the grave.
231 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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947 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Glaister
47 books401 followersNovelist Lesley Glaister was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. She grew up in Suffolk, moving to Sheffield with her first husband, where she took a degree with the Open University. She was 'discovered' by the novelist Hilary Mantel when she attended a course given by the Arvon Foundation in 1989. Mantel was so impressed by her writing that she recommended her to her own literary agent.
Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.
Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.
Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 2, 2013
It's been a hell of a long time sine I've given any book 5*
Totally my problem, reading block, lack of concentration etc. But this book has hit so many of my admittedly odd buttons. I rarely love what others do and vice versa.
There is something very compelling for me in the four sisters, quietly suffering from neglect after their mothers death and increasingly isolated from the village by their father. Really beautifully written, fascinating and very individual characters all of them. The sibling rivalry and banter reminded me of the movie 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'
Looking out for her back catalogue now too, she's written a lot and many are cheap on kindle. Very happy bunny.
Totally my problem, reading block, lack of concentration etc. But this book has hit so many of my admittedly odd buttons. I rarely love what others do and vice versa.
There is something very compelling for me in the four sisters, quietly suffering from neglect after their mothers death and increasingly isolated from the village by their father. Really beautifully written, fascinating and very individual characters all of them. The sibling rivalry and banter reminded me of the movie 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'
Looking out for her back catalogue now too, she's written a lot and many are cheap on kindle. Very happy bunny.
April 9, 2023
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
meets
Come Join Our Disease
in this dark, ultimately tragic tale of a family locked in time. Four elderly siblings – Milly, Agatha and identical twins Ellen and Esther – live together in the squalid remains of their family home (along with George, who’s confined to the cellar). They have rarely left the property, and in old age they are still naive about most aspects of ordinary life, clinging instead to memories of the few youthful outings that comprise their only experience of the outside world. Milly’s narration unravels their history: the death of their mother, the cruel dominance of their controlling father, how George came to be part of the family, and how exactly their self-imposed imprisonment began. Milly’s voice is a perfectly balanced combination of tender nostalgia, dark humour and sinister threat: it shouldn’t work, but it does, brilliantly. Despite their seclusion and eccentricity, and the disgust provoked by their filthy living conditions, I wanted to spend more time with these characters.
February 21, 2015
This was my second Lesley Glaister book. My first on was Now You See Me. I consider that one of my favorite book. This book was similar to Now You See Me in its bluntness and immersiveness, but the similarities don't really go any further than that.
This book just really had that creep factor, y'know? There were some scenes towards the end of the book that genuinely scared me and I'm not someone who gets scared easily by books. It was just so clear. I could picture it perfectly. I feel like I was actually there. I think that this would definitely be classified under gothic fiction.
It was a small book, but it doesn't feel like it. I feel like I lived through four lifetimes in this book. The characters were fantastic. they all felt so real. Lesley Glaister has an unflinching ability to write about all the ugly, dirty, and disgusting things people feel, do, and think without any establishments. I don't think I've ever read anything like it before. It makes the characters gritty, but still you can't help, but root and feel sorry for them.
The setting was a very powerful force in the book and was again very clear in my mind's eye. I could feel the bleakness and isolation. A lot of the time it reminded me of Wuthering Heights. Yeah, so creepy, beautiful, and compelling. You will not stop reading till it's done.
This book just really had that creep factor, y'know? There were some scenes towards the end of the book that genuinely scared me and I'm not someone who gets scared easily by books. It was just so clear. I could picture it perfectly. I feel like I was actually there. I think that this would definitely be classified under gothic fiction.
It was a small book, but it doesn't feel like it. I feel like I lived through four lifetimes in this book. The characters were fantastic. they all felt so real. Lesley Glaister has an unflinching ability to write about all the ugly, dirty, and disgusting things people feel, do, and think without any establishments. I don't think I've ever read anything like it before. It makes the characters gritty, but still you can't help, but root and feel sorry for them.
The setting was a very powerful force in the book and was again very clear in my mind's eye. I could feel the bleakness and isolation. A lot of the time it reminded me of Wuthering Heights. Yeah, so creepy, beautiful, and compelling. You will not stop reading till it's done.
May 14, 2014
This is another welcome reissue, by the Murder Room, of an out of print, or hard to find, novel by a classic crime writer – in this case Lesley Glaister, who was ‘discovered’ by no less an author than Hilary Mantel in 1989. This is her debut novel, which won both the Somerset Maugham and the Betty Trask Awards.
Honour Thy Father is a dark and unsettling book about four sisters – Agatha, the eldest, Milly, our narrator and the twins Ellen and Esther, who exist very much in a private and enclosed world of their own devising. When we are introduced to the sisters they are elderly and living in squalor in the family home, once ruled over by their father, now long dead. Gradually, we discover that things are not as they should be. Why is Milly so keen to count the knives before she puts them away and who, precisely, is George who is locked in the cellar?
Using both conversations between Agatha and Milly, plus flashbacks to the past, we gradually come to understand how the sisters have been left in their current situation – unmarried, dissatisfied and resentful and harbouring the darkest of secrets. This is an assured and well crafted debut and it is the first, but certainly not the last, novel I will read by Lesley Glaister.
Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.
Honour Thy Father is a dark and unsettling book about four sisters – Agatha, the eldest, Milly, our narrator and the twins Ellen and Esther, who exist very much in a private and enclosed world of their own devising. When we are introduced to the sisters they are elderly and living in squalor in the family home, once ruled over by their father, now long dead. Gradually, we discover that things are not as they should be. Why is Milly so keen to count the knives before she puts them away and who, precisely, is George who is locked in the cellar?
Using both conversations between Agatha and Milly, plus flashbacks to the past, we gradually come to understand how the sisters have been left in their current situation – unmarried, dissatisfied and resentful and harbouring the darkest of secrets. This is an assured and well crafted debut and it is the first, but certainly not the last, novel I will read by Lesley Glaister.
Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.
October 5, 2007
I'm not sure why Lesley Glaister doesn't have more of a following here in the U.S., but I think that will change as more and more Americans stumble on her work. A friend of mine who is a fellow Anglophile recommended this book to me, and I am forever in her debt because of it.
Honour Thy Father is the story of four women who have been kept in isolation by their abusive father. Surprisingly, the daughters become twisted and warped as a result. If you grew up in a weird family, you may take comfort in this book, like I did. Its portrayal of spousal abuse, incest, murder, insanity, and freakishness will (hopefully) make you feel that you didn't have such a bad childhood, after all. In any event, this is one of those horror stories that gets into your blood and refuses to leave. Personally, I'm glad there's no antidote for this particular type of disease, and hope to spread the infection to other appreciative readers.
Honour Thy Father is the story of four women who have been kept in isolation by their abusive father. Surprisingly, the daughters become twisted and warped as a result. If you grew up in a weird family, you may take comfort in this book, like I did. Its portrayal of spousal abuse, incest, murder, insanity, and freakishness will (hopefully) make you feel that you didn't have such a bad childhood, after all. In any event, this is one of those horror stories that gets into your blood and refuses to leave. Personally, I'm glad there's no antidote for this particular type of disease, and hope to spread the infection to other appreciative readers.
August 30, 2015
Four motherless sisters, Aggie, Milly and twins Esther and Ellen are virtually imprisoned in their rural family home. Their father is dead and buried, but they continue to feel absolutely trapped by their fear of him. They grow old gradually, repeating the same routines day after day.
Milly the narrator, recalls events from their past and describes their lives over the last sixty years. All the girls were terribly scarred by the death of their warm and loving mother, who after years of abuse, committed suicide by drowning herself in the dyke. Following their mother’s death, their cruel father kept them totally isolated in the house as his prisoners.
After the war, Aggie delivered a monstrously deformed infant called George, the result of her incestuous relationship with her father. The boy continues to live, locked downstairs in the basement.
A very dark tale, not to my liking!
Milly the narrator, recalls events from their past and describes their lives over the last sixty years. All the girls were terribly scarred by the death of their warm and loving mother, who after years of abuse, committed suicide by drowning herself in the dyke. Following their mother’s death, their cruel father kept them totally isolated in the house as his prisoners.
After the war, Aggie delivered a monstrously deformed infant called George, the result of her incestuous relationship with her father. The boy continues to live, locked downstairs in the basement.
A very dark tale, not to my liking!
March 5, 2021
I first read this 30 years ago. Lesley Glaister is one of my favourite authors and I've read nearly all of her books.
Four sisters, in their eighties, live together in the Fens. They've never moved and the story unfolds with their memories.
She writes with aplomb, but never overdoes it. Down-to-earth storytelling at its best. She builds suspense and intrigue slowly but surely, leaving the reader wanting more.
A tragic story, a wonderful storyteller and a perfect book.
Four sisters, in their eighties, live together in the Fens. They've never moved and the story unfolds with their memories.
She writes with aplomb, but never overdoes it. Down-to-earth storytelling at its best. She builds suspense and intrigue slowly but surely, leaving the reader wanting more.
A tragic story, a wonderful storyteller and a perfect book.
January 3, 2021
BOOK REVIEW!!!!
This book is full of morbid flash backs from four sisters living in a decaying home. The main character, Milly, guides us through past and present events that reveal awful family secrets. This book is not for the faint of heart.
I give this a 7.5/10
This book is full of morbid flash backs from four sisters living in a decaying home. The main character, Milly, guides us through past and present events that reveal awful family secrets. This book is not for the faint of heart.
I give this a 7.5/10
May 5, 2022
Not my usual genre. Very odd story, very anticlimactic. Bordered on tedious.
December 10, 2023
A second read and I'm finding Milly a multi-faceted narrator, and the cruelty unforgettable. Such strong writing.
I wish I'd finished reading this nearer to midday than bedtime because it contains things that have haunted me forever. In some way I am finding myself scared as if I were nine, eleven, thirteen.
Not for the first time I feel the writing certainly merits four stars but it is hard to say I 'really liked' a book that was so uncomfortable on so many levels.
The contradictory claustrophobia of Fen living permeates the lives of these four sisters, yet their ignorance is somehow not total, despite their father's attempts to make it so. Underlying all is the strength of doing what comes naturally.
A third read, the nightmarishness of it unabated, as is my inability to say it is was an enjoyable read. Impressive the more accurate description of the manner in which it is written..
I wish I'd finished reading this nearer to midday than bedtime because it contains things that have haunted me forever. In some way I am finding myself scared as if I were nine, eleven, thirteen.
Not for the first time I feel the writing certainly merits four stars but it is hard to say I 'really liked' a book that was so uncomfortable on so many levels.
The contradictory claustrophobia of Fen living permeates the lives of these four sisters, yet their ignorance is somehow not total, despite their father's attempts to make it so. Underlying all is the strength of doing what comes naturally.
A third read, the nightmarishness of it unabated, as is my inability to say it is was an enjoyable read. Impressive the more accurate description of the manner in which it is written..
May 18, 2022
Wow this was unusual, four eccentric sisters live together after their father's death.
They have been brought up as a tight unit all their lives before and after their mother's death.
Hence, all seem co dependent yet the two eldest, also resentful and secretly blaming and hating each other.
They are all trapped, victims of circumstances and of family ties to the farm they will end their days on.
The house is slowly crumbling around them, cleverly reflecting the sisters personal situations as their lives start to unravel and fall apart due to their actions.
Macabre, dark, sarcastic and ultimately sad this was a stark and biting satire that deals with an incredible amount of sinister topics, murder, sexual abuse, incest, domestic abuse and even imprisonment of the daughters.
All are victims but can they ever break free from each other?
This was a really creepy little gem and a wonderful first novel.
They have been brought up as a tight unit all their lives before and after their mother's death.
Hence, all seem co dependent yet the two eldest, also resentful and secretly blaming and hating each other.
They are all trapped, victims of circumstances and of family ties to the farm they will end their days on.
The house is slowly crumbling around them, cleverly reflecting the sisters personal situations as their lives start to unravel and fall apart due to their actions.
Macabre, dark, sarcastic and ultimately sad this was a stark and biting satire that deals with an incredible amount of sinister topics, murder, sexual abuse, incest, domestic abuse and even imprisonment of the daughters.
All are victims but can they ever break free from each other?
This was a really creepy little gem and a wonderful first novel.
March 4, 2021
Four elderly, and dotty, sisters live isolated lives in the Cambridgeshire fens.
They are mad, they are miserable, they hate one another, and their house, home for their entire lives, is falling down.
How did they get like this? That is revealed through their memories. A tale of suicide, murder, incest, grief, sorrow and pain but told in an amusing and skillful way that had me laughing, empathy sng, and basking in some of the prose.
A fantastic story. Ordinary lives but with a very dark edge.
Think Alan Bennett on a depressed day.
The descriptions perfectly illustrate the characters' feelings and take you to the heart of the story.
Glaister is not a well known author, which I think is a shame. This is her first book and it is an excellent debut.
Cannot fault it at all, except to say it is too short.
10/10
They are mad, they are miserable, they hate one another, and their house, home for their entire lives, is falling down.
How did they get like this? That is revealed through their memories. A tale of suicide, murder, incest, grief, sorrow and pain but told in an amusing and skillful way that had me laughing, empathy sng, and basking in some of the prose.
A fantastic story. Ordinary lives but with a very dark edge.
Think Alan Bennett on a depressed day.
The descriptions perfectly illustrate the characters' feelings and take you to the heart of the story.
Glaister is not a well known author, which I think is a shame. This is her first book and it is an excellent debut.
Cannot fault it at all, except to say it is too short.
10/10
July 14, 2024
This one strongly recalled to me John McGahern's 'Amongst Women' (1990) with its female cast tyranised by their father, mixed with the dustily settled macabre gloom of Deirdre (Dreardry?) Madden's 'The Birds of the Innocent Wood' (1989), all set in the cut-off dyke sliced fenland of Graham Swift's 'Waterland' (1983).
The book feels longer than its 151 pages and in this case that's a complement. Lines pack horror cloaked within seemingly straightforward description, so each sentence is made to count. The greasy and furry dishevellment of these four geriatric sisters' house, meets the audial terror of their very own David Tattsyrup (only here living in the cellar, rather than League of Gentleman's imagined attic room...).
It's got a vein of humour like crystal in darkest granite. There is energetic writing to balance the leaden fixity of these women's predicament. Do not gift to the traumatised or nervous of disposition... If you don't mind a darker trip to a local shop for local people, though, pick this one off the shelf.
The book feels longer than its 151 pages and in this case that's a complement. Lines pack horror cloaked within seemingly straightforward description, so each sentence is made to count. The greasy and furry dishevellment of these four geriatric sisters' house, meets the audial terror of their very own David Tattsyrup (only here living in the cellar, rather than League of Gentleman's imagined attic room...).
It's got a vein of humour like crystal in darkest granite. There is energetic writing to balance the leaden fixity of these women's predicament. Do not gift to the traumatised or nervous of disposition... If you don't mind a darker trip to a local shop for local people, though, pick this one off the shelf.
April 12, 2018
A frustratingly almost on every front. Almost creepy. Almost surprising. Almost compelling. Certainly not the "lyrical violent testament to the world of women" as claimed on the dust cover. The women exist, stuff happens, but the characters themselves never fully emerge. The pivotal plot point is advertised early on in a manner that made it impossible to miss. When the author finally gets to the final scenes and the reveal, I was more in a "get it over with already" state of mind than and "oh, wow, so that's what happens" mood.
September 18, 2025
Quick read. A grimey tale of four sisters who are locked away from the world, plagued by the presence of their horrible, illusive father.
Quite a mean spirited book that made me feel pretty horrible by the end. Be warned, there's some foul SA towards the end of the book. An unnecessary inclusion that added to the book's grottiness and meanness.
A bit of a slow build that goes nowhere, but I think that's kind of the point.
Quite a mean spirited book that made me feel pretty horrible by the end. Be warned, there's some foul SA towards the end of the book. An unnecessary inclusion that added to the book's grottiness and meanness.
A bit of a slow build that goes nowhere, but I think that's kind of the point.
January 23, 2018
SO so good! I really didn't expect it to be so good I loved it, I was immediately intrigued and hooked from the first page! It's not really scary, not for me at least, but it is creepy in it's own way. It's also full with emotions I didn't expect this book to make me cry but there were a few parts where I just couldn't hold back my tears. Loved it, highly recommend.
March 12, 2024
All talk and no action. Show don't tell.
After 60 pages of the droning main character Milly, in her dotage no less, I gave up on anything interesting ever happening in the past or in the future, although the author does write beautifully.
After 60 pages of the droning main character Milly, in her dotage no less, I gave up on anything interesting ever happening in the past or in the future, although the author does write beautifully.
July 9, 2019
Great Read
The book was very dark and moody. Couldn’t help feeling sorry for the sisters stuck in their prison of a house.
The book was very dark and moody. Couldn’t help feeling sorry for the sisters stuck in their prison of a house.
October 9, 2020
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January 22, 2021DNF No Stars
My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:
https://youtu.be/C1E4HEA2Fwg
Enjoy!
My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:
https://youtu.be/C1E4HEA2Fwg
Enjoy!
July 1, 2021
Very flowers in the attic…
March 4, 2017
Where did I even find this book as an option? It's so different. So, the synopsis is pretty straightforward: four elderly sisters are living in squalor -- in the home they were born in -- and they watch everything around them crumble while recalling and lamenting all that could have been.
There are so many layers to this story! It's obviously very dark. Grotesque. Unsettling. We begin in the decaying present and are transported back during the course of a single, stormy night to moments in the past via the recollections of Milly -- the middle sister and our level-headed protagonist. As memories tend to be, Milly's are imperfect. Many are rose-colored. Of many, she can't decide if they ever really took place. Juxtaposed with the past, the present is all the more unseemly and disgusting. The story is a journey from childhood and innocence to becoming a monster. There is a recurring theme of monstrosity vs. innocence that I found very interesting.
Each one of the characters is also very complex. If you've ever wondered how people can justify atrocities to themselves, this book will take you through the steps very gradually. One moment you're a young girl singing with your happy mother, and another you're doing the unthinkable. Time moves in the blink of an eye. And all the unthinkable things done to you by the monsters in your life... maybe those monsters are also damaged people and history is just repeating itself.
I found that this book, while short, gives the reader a lot to think about. It's also exceptionally well written and subtle. It's a quick read, but not necessarily a light one.
There are so many layers to this story! It's obviously very dark. Grotesque. Unsettling. We begin in the decaying present and are transported back during the course of a single, stormy night to moments in the past via the recollections of Milly -- the middle sister and our level-headed protagonist. As memories tend to be, Milly's are imperfect. Many are rose-colored. Of many, she can't decide if they ever really took place. Juxtaposed with the past, the present is all the more unseemly and disgusting. The story is a journey from childhood and innocence to becoming a monster. There is a recurring theme of monstrosity vs. innocence that I found very interesting.
Each one of the characters is also very complex. If you've ever wondered how people can justify atrocities to themselves, this book will take you through the steps very gradually. One moment you're a young girl singing with your happy mother, and another you're doing the unthinkable. Time moves in the blink of an eye. And all the unthinkable things done to you by the monsters in your life... maybe those monsters are also damaged people and history is just repeating itself.
I found that this book, while short, gives the reader a lot to think about. It's also exceptionally well written and subtle. It's a quick read, but not necessarily a light one.
April 16, 2024
This book is very sad and does not exactly have a happy ending, but despite that I really did love it. It was one of those books I couldn’t put down. I wish there was more said about some things. One example is George. Obviously since they didn’t go to town or have a doctor come to them they had no way really of knowing exactly what was wrong with George, but I wish I did know. It seems like it would be because he was a result of incest, but it is also said that Aggie likely has a different father. So was the author using George to show that Aggie in fact did not have a different father? Though Milly was definitely upset about isaac’s death, she never mentioned any remorse over having left things off with him on an argument or having remorse over never saying goodbye. There seemed to be many places that I would have liked more details on, but weren’t necessarily, just would have been nice to have. But again, this book was very good. One that leaves you thinking about it for days after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2012
This book can only be described as frightening and sad. The twins scared the hell out me from the start and my heart broke from poor Milly. I'm a big believer in happily ever after (even though reality is often not so kind) and I desperately wanted that for the four sisters in this book. The behaviour of their father was solely responsible for their oddness and that made me sad.
It was a well written book and I've never read anything quite like it before. Although it was a good story (i'm not sure if that's really the right way of describing it!), I don't think I'd feel right recommending it to anyone else!
It was a well written book and I've never read anything quite like it before. Although it was a good story (i'm not sure if that's really the right way of describing it!), I don't think I'd feel right recommending it to anyone else!
February 5, 2021
I read this book many years ago. I have never been able to get it out of my mind. It was very sad but yet the most beautifully written book I've ever read. I couldn't forget it. Although I forgot the title and it has taken me years to find it. I posted it on this site and a fellow reader responded in minutes with the information. I highly recommend this book as the story itself is unforgettable, beautiful, tragic, and at times spooky. I normally don't like sad endings, but this one is so excellent that I am planning to get my own copy to reread. And I want a physical copy so I can have it on my shelves.
August 31, 2013
Love Lesley Glaister's books as a rule and this one is no exception, really accomplished work for a first novel, felt very sorry for the narrator Milly, the second sister of four who have been living together in the family home since childhood, the story is being told when the 'children' are all now in old age but jumps back to tell the family's history - some really macabre and disturbing events are revealed as the book progresses. Only 150 pages but a great story crammed into such a short space, well worth a read if you can get hold of it.
October 16, 2014
Well I think Lesley Glaister is one of my favourite authors. My granddaughter introduced me to her books and I haven't looked back. This was dark and sad and interspersed with a strange humour. I loved it and I couldn't put it down. I love this writer so much.
October 16, 2007
Not for the dimwitted thts for sure
August 12, 2009
This book was bizarre and slightly disturbing yet I couldn't stop reading. It is less than 200 pages so it's a quick read but definitely a bit of a head scratcher.
November 5, 2012
I love everything Lesley Glaister writes. This was a little different, but still fabulous. Very eerie and put me in mind of The Cement Garden (Ian McEwan)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews