Dorothy McMillan (1943 - 2021) was an Honorary Research Fellow in English Literature at the University of Glasgow. She published widely on women's writing. She was Secretary, then President and Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies.
While it does get repetitive and there are unnecessary character story lines, the sheer gut twisting terror McMillan creates is a wonder. Just the first chapter alone is the greatest opening scene of any horror novel I have read and the fear ramps up from there.