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Dark Interval
NIGHTMARE OF MADNESS
When Caroline awakened, she didn't know where she was. Then a name pricked at her memory. Beaumont—a word from her childhood at the manor. Beaumont—where the hopelessly mad were committed. Beaumont—great, gloomy house of the living dead.
And now she was there, watched over by a hard-eyed nurse, visited by a doctor whose smile could not hide the icy indifference of his gaze. Why was she there? How could she escape? And above all, where was the man who had claimed her body and destroyed her mind—and whom she so desperately loved?
When Caroline awakened, she didn't know where she was. Then a name pricked at her memory. Beaumont—a word from her childhood at the manor. Beaumont—where the hopelessly mad were committed. Beaumont—great, gloomy house of the living dead.
And now she was there, watched over by a hard-eyed nurse, visited by a doctor whose smile could not hide the icy indifference of his gaze. Why was she there? How could she escape? And above all, where was the man who had claimed her body and destroyed her mind—and whom she so desperately loved?
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
3 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Joan Aiken
331 books601 followersJoan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.
She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).
Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.
Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.
Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.
She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).
Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.
Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.
Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 6, 2025
Slow burn Aiken, the story only really gets going about half-way, it's a little bit gothic all moody dark Victorian houses, dysfunctional family relationships, grumpy servants, murders and deaths galore. Throw in a dissident Eastern bloc violinist protagonist who conducts his life with suitable amorality and a dash of amnesia in the female antagonist builds tension piece by piece. A few too many coincidences and slightly too rapid revealing of salient facts result in a tale that requires some suspension of belief as we await the resolution. Will our heroine survive?
April 9, 2015
One fun thing about reading old pulp fiction is the writing--grammar, spelling, vocabulary, usage--is better than their modern equivalents. I also love the ambiguous ending.
April 19, 2025
Not sure where to really begin on this one. I read a review before this that said Dark Intervals success is due to its writing style and really I think that’s what I took from this. Some superb prose and a pretty decent story but just didn’t have that thing it take it over the top. Either way I enjoyed reading this. The cliff hanger ending was good enough for me. I think I went into this expecting a super natural horror type novel but this was definitely a thriller mystery type bop. More on the mystery side. Would loveeee to know what the hell happened to poor old Cousin Flora.
October 18, 2025
Sorry, but I just didn't like it. What did all the other reviewers see in this???
December 17, 2024
Two alternate titles for the same book, Hate Begins at Home and Dark Interval
The blurb for Dark Interval is so hilariously wrong. Here's the actual synopsis:
Caroline Conroy is married very young to the scion of an oil magnate family, but only a few years into her marriage, their young son is killed in a tragic accident which also leaves her injured. Caroline is shipped back to England to recover with her family, but she's not getting better. Lapses in memory, periodic fugue states, strange accidents keep happening. Is she getting worse, or is someone gaslighting her?
The depiction of her family home, a once genteel manor gone to ruin, is suitably claustrophobic. Like with all Joan Aiken novels, it's the sharply-observed details and the monstrous secondary characters who really make the book. Caroline's mother, a narcissistic social climber gone to seed, who spends the days watching TV and has turned the house over to dog breeding, to raise money. Caroline's sister Hilda, unwillingly caring for the packs of dogs, plotting her escape. Elderly cousin Flora, who plays at helplessness but is a master manipulator. The aged butler who barely even tries anymore. All these people trapped together in a decaying house, it's like a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett, updated to the 1960s with beehive hairdos.
And lurking behind all of them, concert violinist Harry Lupac, escaped from an unnamed Soviet country, under shady circumstances and under threat of blackmail.
The heroines in Aiken's gothic thrillers are usually plucky, determined young women. Not so Caroline, who is frail and beset by self-doubt, although she is stronger than she realizes. The ending is surprisingly abrupt but still satisfying.
The blurb for Dark Interval is so hilariously wrong. Here's the actual synopsis:
Caroline Conroy is married very young to the scion of an oil magnate family, but only a few years into her marriage, their young son is killed in a tragic accident which also leaves her injured. Caroline is shipped back to England to recover with her family, but she's not getting better. Lapses in memory, periodic fugue states, strange accidents keep happening. Is she getting worse, or is someone gaslighting her?
The depiction of her family home, a once genteel manor gone to ruin, is suitably claustrophobic. Like with all Joan Aiken novels, it's the sharply-observed details and the monstrous secondary characters who really make the book. Caroline's mother, a narcissistic social climber gone to seed, who spends the days watching TV and has turned the house over to dog breeding, to raise money. Caroline's sister Hilda, unwillingly caring for the packs of dogs, plotting her escape. Elderly cousin Flora, who plays at helplessness but is a master manipulator. The aged butler who barely even tries anymore. All these people trapped together in a decaying house, it's like a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett, updated to the 1960s with beehive hairdos.
And lurking behind all of them, concert violinist Harry Lupac, escaped from an unnamed Soviet country, under shady circumstances and under threat of blackmail.
The heroines in Aiken's gothic thrillers are usually plucky, determined young women. Not so Caroline, who is frail and beset by self-doubt, although she is stronger than she realizes. The ending is surprisingly abrupt but still satisfying.
April 26, 2008
Contemporary story of a normal young woman imprisoned in a mental institution against her will. The question is - why? This is all part of a sinister plot - -
October 6, 2010
Love this author!
June 21, 2025
The end is so abrupt that I still wonder if my book is missing a few pages. It's kind of a cool surprise, but an underwhelming reward for tolerating all of the unpleasant characters.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews