A Sense of Shadow

by Kate Wilhelm

John Daniel Culbertson attempts to retain his despotic control over his family--even after death--by employing a research psychologist to choose the heir to his rich Oregon estate

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Kate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.

Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit,  Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,  Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.

Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.

Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction. 

Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.

Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid people-in-a-confined-space-for-a-certain-amount-of-time story with subtle horror that's mostly in the head (the best sort).

The end, though, was anti-climactic (or I didn't get it ...).

Still a good read for dark evenings.

[Michael O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As part of his will, a father has his estranged children come back to their childhood home and live there for a week, at the end of which they will take EEGs. In the process they, along with the two narrators (a son’s wife and a professor of psychology), begin to lose it, feeling the boundaries break down between each others’ minds as well as their father’s.

Called “a modern haunting” by Gene Wolfe, that’s what it is. Utterly awesome book – although I liked Sweet Birds Sang better. Wilhelm really sets up the suspense with a great cast of characters and then brings it around to a perfect end. A morality tale that I can’t see being objectionable to anyone.

[Alien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Grossgrundbesitzer ruft seine Kinder ans Sterbebett. Er will versuchen, nach seinem Tod seine Seele auf einen von ihnen zu übertragen. Er stirbt, nun müssen die Kinder 1 Woche nachts im Haus verbringen. Wer nach der Woche ein verändertes EEG hat, kriegt den ganzen Besitz.

Eine Art Gespensterstory im SF-Gewand. Naja, eigentlich hat es mit SF nichts zu tun, obwohl es von Heyne so verkauft wurde. Vieles ist recht vage und es gibt viele Wiederholungen.
Im Grunde ist es im Kern eine dieser zahllosen verkorkste-Familie-Stories.
Positiv muss ich den flüssigen Schreibstil hervorheben. Obwohl es mich nicht wirklich gefesselt hat, flogen die Seiten nur so vorbei und die 240 Seiten waren bald gelesen

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a psychological thriller than Sci Fi. Well told, but I found it very tense reading.
A family is brought together with their father's death. An obsessed controlling man, he forces them to stay together for a week, where strange things happen, and they start to relive their pasts and see through each other and their father's eyes.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! It's basically suspense/horror/mystery.

What is the power of suggestion? Can you control someone's behavior if you knew them well enough to strategically place triggers in their life that would make them behave in a certain, predictable and therefore controllable way?

This book is just fun and executes those ideas far better than I expected. I don't believe any of that is possible, and yet I still was riveted and found myself wanting to believe, or wondering if that's what was going on, or if something else was going on.

One of my favorites from last year, and I'll give it a 4.6

[Snood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Sense of Shadow is an intriguing horror drama about a family being forced to re-face the traumatic memories of a less than happy home life. Although the concept was interesting, it seems to repeat story beats and drags in parts, which I didn’t expect from a 1980s paperback horror. This is a much less over-the-top experience than I expected and I feel it could have been a bit shorter in spots. Overall, it wasn’t bad by any means, I just don’t think it’s quite my cup of tea.

I’m not sure why this is classified as a sci-fi. No such elements are in the novel.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite unsettling on many levels

[James]

A Sense of Shadow

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

good buildup to skunky end

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually titled A Sense of Shadow. It's a little creepy as most of Kate's sci-fi tends to be. But I liked it very much for its depiction of a broken family and the Oregon landscape.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chickens come home to roost.