The Innocent Party

by Celia Dale

The tower blocks of Council flats rise against the London skyline. On the fourteenth floor of one of them live the Daltons -- cheerful Dennis who is "only human," his sharp wife Vera, and their 12-year-old daughter Linda.

For Linda the sun rises and sets with Dad: everyone and everything else -- even the TV -- are just background against which Dad stands, jokey and loving. Linda is a child of today -- thanks to the media she knows the facts of everything, from abortion to industrial action, but the meaning of none of it -- so that when things begin to go wrong in the family she weaves a web of misunderstanding and confusion which leads to a dramatic crisis...

Who was the innocent, who was the guilty? In fact all the characters in this remarkable novel are victims of the clinical hurly-burly of today's urban life. They manipulate one another without being aware of what they are doing. In this vivid, extremely readable novel, Miss Dale uses all her skill to tell an intensely human story that reveals the truth behind the facade of human behavior.

Genres: British Literature, Fiction, London

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Not very much is known about the author Celia Dale except for a few scant details. Celia Dale was born in 1912 and she was daughter of the actor, James Dale and was married to the journalist and critic, Guy Ramsey until his death in 1959. She worked in Fleet Street and as a publishers adviser and book reviewer. Some of her books were dramatised on radio and TV. Dales first book appeared in 1943 but it was her later novels where she branched out in to the realms of psychological crime. In all, Dale produced thirteen novels and a collection of short stories.

Celia Dale took everyday domestic situations and gave them a bitter twist. In Helping with Enquiries there are only three main protagonists, their story revolving around the murder of the mother. In A Helping Hand the vulnerability of the elderly is masterfully portrayed. Dale won the 1986 Crime Writers Association Veuve Cliquot Short Story Award for Lines of Communication which appears in her short story collection, A Personal Call and other stories which show that Dale had the short story down to a fine art. Her final book in 1988 was Sheeps Clothing.

Celia Dale died on the 31st December 2011, just short of her hundredth birthday. - Excerpted from FantasticFiction

Novels
The Least of These (1944)
To Hold the Mirror (1946)
The Dry Land (1952)
The Wooden O (1953)
Trial of Strength (1955)
A Spring of Love (1960)
Other People (1964)
A Helping Hand (1966)
Act of Love (1969)
A Dark Corner (1971)
The Innocent Party (1973)
Helping with Enquiries (1979)
aka The Deception
Sheep's Clothing (1988)

Reviews

[Danny Chen · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

The Innocent Party begins in an unassuming manner, exploring the lives of a 12-year old girl and her parents in the council flats of London. Amidst the banality of everyday life and all its rituals, an unspeakable tragedy occurs - all seen through the eyes of a narrator entering her adolescent years.

By putting the reader in the shoes of a child, we lack understanding of the full picture - much like Linda the protagonist, we are left to form our own conclusions of what horrors might have occurred, unspoken yet lurking beneath the surface. We have to piece together the complexity of human relationships, and feelings of desire, grief, and loss.

The feelings that we, as readers, can grapple and ultimately come to terms with, are never truly reconciled for Linda. What unfolds is a tragic and unsettling tale of what happens when we are unwillingly thrust into adulthood and all its baggage and responsibilities, but without the emotional facilities to process it.

[agnesallis piedmonte]

wow. now this is British Lit—similar to Blood of Angels (Stephen Gregory) & Spider (Patrick McGrath). little bit of Concrete Garden (McEwen) as well. Very well done.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent excellent British gothic, with some despicably human characters who submit to their humanness all the time, reminiscent of Shuggie Bain and even some parts of the Trainspotting movie. So much of this setting and economic misery points to Thatcher era neoliberal policies but seems it was set a few years prior to her rule as PM. Maybe a new favourite book, I empathised with and saw so clearly Linda's complexity and needs as a teenage girl and was sad for her that no one else did. I shall be recommending this to friends and family

[Susan Ludwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded to 5 stars.
A sad and disturbing book.

[Bronwen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and disturbing

[Sam Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was genuinely crazy, and being in the mind of Linda was so fascinating as she clearly thought one thing had happened and tried to protect her dad when I think actually it was very different? Very sad overall watching her mind grapple with all the changes in her life but such a gripping read

[Steve J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic stuff.
Creepy, dark-edged proto- domestic noir.
Very evocative of Britain in the 70s (when it was written).

Would be fascinating to read a biography of Celia Dale I think (but I believe none are available?). What invoked the incredibly dark undercurrents of her work in this novel and others.
I suspect we will never know.

[Leonie · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the story kept me engaged throughout, with only a minor part that felt repetitive halfway through. I enjoyed the unpredictability - I was expecting the story to end very differently.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars