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Unity Penfold
'I am Unity, held back in exile - haunted by my own life on the other side of an invisible screen'
Unity Penfold returns home one afternoon... and finds it isn't there.
- Her house has vanished.
- No one has heard of her husband.
- At the local school they know nothing of her children.
- Unity's whole existence seems to have been wiped out.
Then a clash with hooligans puts her in hospital with severe concussion. She wakes to a world of nightmare and uncertainty - and a lonely, desperate fight to cling on to her identity.
As the weeks pass, her struggle toughens and changes Unity so much that she becomes a new person. Or does she?
Unity Penfold returns home one afternoon... and finds it isn't there.
- Her house has vanished.
- No one has heard of her husband.
- At the local school they know nothing of her children.
- Unity's whole existence seems to have been wiped out.
Then a clash with hooligans puts her in hospital with severe concussion. She wakes to a world of nightmare and uncertainty - and a lonely, desperate fight to cling on to her identity.
As the weeks pass, her struggle toughens and changes Unity so much that she becomes a new person. Or does she?
- GenresHorror
202 pages, Hardcover
First published April 29, 1982
79 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 30, 2021
Returning home from a walk one day, struggling British actress Unity Penfold discovers that the home she shares with her husband and kids is no longer there. The neighboring houses are simply closer together now. Even worse, no one knows who she is, and have never heard of her husband. And her children's school has no record of the kids ever being enrolled there. Panicked and utterly lost, Unity must find the answer to this puzzle while staying sane -- if she IS sane, that is. Did she phase out of one reality and into another? Or is she off her rocker?
This was a pretty creepy Twilight Zone-ish concept that also brought to mind several works by Philip K. Dick. It's more unsettling than scary, and despite the many long, drawn-out sections of Unity just trying to adapt to her new life as a "nobody" with no past, no friends, no nothing, I was engaged throughout thanks to the fine writing and well-drawn, sympathetic characters, and I couldn't stop reading until I knew the solution to the mystery. And it didn't disappoint. I grew to like Unity and found myself really rooting for her to be reunited with her family, delusions or not. Recommended for those who don't mind reality breaking down every now and again.
(This novel was originally released under the title Unity Penfold in 1980, then reissued a couple years later in slightly revised form as Eclipse in the UK and Nightmare Street in the states. It was also turned into a made for TV movie in 1998 called Nightmare Street. Interestingly, my copy had an obituary from The Guardian tucked inside its pages. Turns out Tabor, a London playwright who preferred going by the name Shosh, unfortunately passed away this past February.)
This was a pretty creepy Twilight Zone-ish concept that also brought to mind several works by Philip K. Dick. It's more unsettling than scary, and despite the many long, drawn-out sections of Unity just trying to adapt to her new life as a "nobody" with no past, no friends, no nothing, I was engaged throughout thanks to the fine writing and well-drawn, sympathetic characters, and I couldn't stop reading until I knew the solution to the mystery. And it didn't disappoint. I grew to like Unity and found myself really rooting for her to be reunited with her family, delusions or not. Recommended for those who don't mind reality breaking down every now and again.
(This novel was originally released under the title Unity Penfold in 1980, then reissued a couple years later in slightly revised form as Eclipse in the UK and Nightmare Street in the states. It was also turned into a made for TV movie in 1998 called Nightmare Street. Interestingly, my copy had an obituary from The Guardian tucked inside its pages. Turns out Tabor, a London playwright who preferred going by the name Shosh, unfortunately passed away this past February.)
May 1, 2018
This was an interesting page-turning read with an intriguing premise. It begins with a woman, who is greatly distressed, telling her story to an Australian busker, known as Face, at Euston Station in London. She had returned home the previous day and found that her house had literally disappeared and her husband and two sons with it. Face is a poet and musician who is particularly interested in weaving history into his folk music. As he listens, he is aware of a heavy police presence at the station and that they are awaiting the arrival of a particular train. The story then moves into the woman's viewpoint and most of it is told from that, though there is the odd section from Face throughout the story.
Unity Penfold, as she believes herself to be, has been suffering from depression for some time, the outcome of her failed acting career which left her feeling useless and as having no identity as a person despite husband Ned's understanding behaviour. In an attempt to cheer herself up, she met Karl for lunch. As a boy, Karl was saved from Nazi Germany by Unity's father (the novel was first published in 1980) and was like an older brother to her, although he was raised by foster-parents that her father found to take care of him. Karl is happily married to a lady called Barbara and works at an institute in London, near Euston station. After leaving Karl, she went to see another old friend, Pippa, a bohemian female actor whom she knows from when she, Pippa and Ned, at that time her future husband, toured Wales on a shoestring production. After saying goodbye to Pippa, she returned home to make her mindnumbing discovery.
Her appeal to a neighbour causes only alarm: the woman does not know her. She tries to phone her husband's agent from a phone box - Ned is still a working actor - but the man denies all knowledge of Ned's existence. (Later in the novel, when she checks 'Spotlight', the publication which lists most British actors and a photo, providing they pay the fee, neither she nor Ned are listed.) When she tries to see Karl at his workplace another doctor works there, and she is treated as hysterical. After forcing herself to calm down, she gains the co-operation of the doctor and his colleagues, who look up Karl for her. In this reality, he is a humanitarian scientist working abroad in troubled parts of the world. She also learns that he is married to another woman, not Barbara. When she goes back to Pippa's, she finds a boarded up derelict building. So she has been walking all night and went into Euston station as it was warmer there (it is April).
She has told Face all this - less coherently than in her first person POV as he gets it in a disjointed rambling sequence punctuated by hopeless tears - when the football supporters, for whom the police have been waiting, arrive en mass. In the ensuing fracas, Face is separated from Unity though he thinks he sees her carried unconscious from the station.
Later, she wakes up in hospital and discovers that her "flatmate", a woman called Laura, has been in to identify her and bring some of her things. It seems she is a Sara Davies who went missing after becoming depressed due to a miscarriage and a failed relationship. Unity is resistent to accepting this imposed identity, but comes to realise that the alternative is to be packed off to a mental hospital, and so her attempt to build a new life as Sara begins.
This is an odd blend of a novel about a woman finding herself and a science fictional element of what appears to be an alternative history. On odd occasions, things bleed through from the world Unity left and she hears her husband's voice in a radio play, for example, but when she phones the BBC, no such play was broadcast. This hampers her attempt to learn a new skill - secretarial work - and adapt to a job in a company which arranges locations for TV and film companies as her grief at her losses is then reawakened. Meanwhile, she sometimes doubts whether her existence as Unity was all wishful thinking and imagination. But slowly she finds a challenge in a more demanding role at her office and develops a toughness she lacked before, helped by the nascent relationship she starts to build with Face, though he can't resist investigating her possible other life and she tries to stay true to Ned. An interesting story in any case, hence the 4-star rating.
Unity Penfold, as she believes herself to be, has been suffering from depression for some time, the outcome of her failed acting career which left her feeling useless and as having no identity as a person despite husband Ned's understanding behaviour. In an attempt to cheer herself up, she met Karl for lunch. As a boy, Karl was saved from Nazi Germany by Unity's father (the novel was first published in 1980) and was like an older brother to her, although he was raised by foster-parents that her father found to take care of him. Karl is happily married to a lady called Barbara and works at an institute in London, near Euston station. After leaving Karl, she went to see another old friend, Pippa, a bohemian female actor whom she knows from when she, Pippa and Ned, at that time her future husband, toured Wales on a shoestring production. After saying goodbye to Pippa, she returned home to make her mindnumbing discovery.
Her appeal to a neighbour causes only alarm: the woman does not know her. She tries to phone her husband's agent from a phone box - Ned is still a working actor - but the man denies all knowledge of Ned's existence. (Later in the novel, when she checks 'Spotlight', the publication which lists most British actors and a photo, providing they pay the fee, neither she nor Ned are listed.) When she tries to see Karl at his workplace another doctor works there, and she is treated as hysterical. After forcing herself to calm down, she gains the co-operation of the doctor and his colleagues, who look up Karl for her. In this reality, he is a humanitarian scientist working abroad in troubled parts of the world. She also learns that he is married to another woman, not Barbara. When she goes back to Pippa's, she finds a boarded up derelict building. So she has been walking all night and went into Euston station as it was warmer there (it is April).
She has told Face all this - less coherently than in her first person POV as he gets it in a disjointed rambling sequence punctuated by hopeless tears - when the football supporters, for whom the police have been waiting, arrive en mass. In the ensuing fracas, Face is separated from Unity though he thinks he sees her carried unconscious from the station.
Later, she wakes up in hospital and discovers that her "flatmate", a woman called Laura, has been in to identify her and bring some of her things. It seems she is a Sara Davies who went missing after becoming depressed due to a miscarriage and a failed relationship. Unity is resistent to accepting this imposed identity, but comes to realise that the alternative is to be packed off to a mental hospital, and so her attempt to build a new life as Sara begins.
This is an odd blend of a novel about a woman finding herself and a science fictional element of what appears to be an alternative history. On odd occasions, things bleed through from the world Unity left and she hears her husband's voice in a radio play, for example, but when she phones the BBC, no such play was broadcast. This hampers her attempt to learn a new skill - secretarial work - and adapt to a job in a company which arranges locations for TV and film companies as her grief at her losses is then reawakened. Meanwhile, she sometimes doubts whether her existence as Unity was all wishful thinking and imagination. But slowly she finds a challenge in a more demanding role at her office and develops a toughness she lacked before, helped by the nascent relationship she starts to build with Face, though he can't resist investigating her possible other life and she tries to stay true to Ned. An interesting story in any case, hence the 4-star rating.
June 16, 2024
A great read, like a twilight zone episode. A woman dreams of another life and is thrown into it against her will. Other than dialogue and narration that sometimes feels a little like the main is a Victorian -era character prone to fainting spells, it was a quick, easy and fun read.
March 10, 2024
Originally published as a literary novel in England under the title UNITY PENFOLD (1980), the book was repackaged for the U.S. market and published as a Paperbacks from Hell-style horror novel under the title NIGHTMARE STREET (1982). Still another printing is retitled ECLIPSE, for some reason.
The novel concerns Unity Penrose, 33-year-old wife and mother of two, a failed actress, suffering from depression. One day her husband convinces her to get out of the house, to go have lunch with an old friend to liven her spirits; when she returns home, her house has vanished, as though swallowed up, as though it never existed. Worse, her neighbors do not remember her. There is no record of her children at their school. No sign that her husband ever existed.
As she recounts these strange and disturbing events to a stranger in the subway, a folk singer called 'Face', she is trampled by a mob of soccer hooligans and awakens in the hospital, where she is told that she has been identified by her roommate as a missing person named Sarah Davies. When she protests that she is Unity, not Sarah, she is threatened with a trip to the psych ward.
Much of the novel deals with the question of whether she really is Sarah and has, through madness or fantasy, simply imagined another life as Unity, or whether she is indeed who she claims to be and has somehow passed into a Twilight Zone-type alternate dimension. Hints are given to support either hypothesis, although the truth is eventually revealed (I won't spoil it).
I found it to be a page-turner, though definitely not a horror novel, more a sort of mystery.
The novel concerns Unity Penrose, 33-year-old wife and mother of two, a failed actress, suffering from depression. One day her husband convinces her to get out of the house, to go have lunch with an old friend to liven her spirits; when she returns home, her house has vanished, as though swallowed up, as though it never existed. Worse, her neighbors do not remember her. There is no record of her children at their school. No sign that her husband ever existed.
As she recounts these strange and disturbing events to a stranger in the subway, a folk singer called 'Face', she is trampled by a mob of soccer hooligans and awakens in the hospital, where she is told that she has been identified by her roommate as a missing person named Sarah Davies. When she protests that she is Unity, not Sarah, she is threatened with a trip to the psych ward.
Much of the novel deals with the question of whether she really is Sarah and has, through madness or fantasy, simply imagined another life as Unity, or whether she is indeed who she claims to be and has somehow passed into a Twilight Zone-type alternate dimension. Hints are given to support either hypothesis, although the truth is eventually revealed (I won't spoil it).
I found it to be a page-turner, though definitely not a horror novel, more a sort of mystery.
October 1, 2024
Sometimes a book comes along that falls out of your usual comfort zone reading and just clicks perfectly. This was one of those times. The story itself is reminiscent of something Philip K. Dick might have wrote (albeit much more beautifully and coherently written), telling the story of a woman called Unity Penfold who comes home and finds everything she once knew no longer - or perhaps never did - exists. Instead she is someone else, with the very high pressure, meaningful life she had so often dreamed of herself during times of debilitating depression. Was she always this person? Has she switched to a new dimension? Those questions are at the heart of what is a remarkable story examining not only confused realities, but the perception of our own identity.
Tabor's writing is beautiful, emotional, tragic, and ensures Unity is an easy character to root for no matter what her ending might be. And everytime it seems her story starts getting comfortable, a new twist is thrown in to keep the guesswork alive. And for a quarter of the book we even get to see her journey of suffering, confusion and reconciliation through the eyes of her free-spirited minstrel friend Face. At the backdrop of all of this is almost a caricature of 80's London, with wonderfully colourful personalities and locations to add to the glamour of Unity's new existence.
This edition comes with the extended ending for the US audience, which is something that I am often wary of (the film 'Brazil' is a classic pitfall). But, here I think it adds the perfect additional touch. The British ending is there and still works, but there's just something about the following couple of pages which adds the right amount of closure.
This is yet another superb reissue from Valancourt Press which gripped me until the end. A constantly twisting examination of human psychology, identity and the walls of reality—all against a brilliant caricature of the British 80s scene.
Loved every page of it.
Tabor's writing is beautiful, emotional, tragic, and ensures Unity is an easy character to root for no matter what her ending might be. And everytime it seems her story starts getting comfortable, a new twist is thrown in to keep the guesswork alive. And for a quarter of the book we even get to see her journey of suffering, confusion and reconciliation through the eyes of her free-spirited minstrel friend Face. At the backdrop of all of this is almost a caricature of 80's London, with wonderfully colourful personalities and locations to add to the glamour of Unity's new existence.
This edition comes with the extended ending for the US audience, which is something that I am often wary of (the film 'Brazil' is a classic pitfall). But, here I think it adds the perfect additional touch. The British ending is there and still works, but there's just something about the following couple of pages which adds the right amount of closure.
This is yet another superb reissue from Valancourt Press which gripped me until the end. A constantly twisting examination of human psychology, identity and the walls of reality—all against a brilliant caricature of the British 80s scene.
Loved every page of it.
May 15, 2025
This is something of a small classic I think. It only fails to hit five stars because I found Face insufferable, and some of the dialogue was a little forced (and it felt that way because everything else around it was far better judged). The Valancourt edition pops in the final two pages from the American edition which is fascinating because Tabor’s instinct to ignore it - i had pretty much guessed how it was meant to resolve without it - was correct, but it also does not ruin the book in the slightest. It reminds me of some of the dialogue spoken by Nora in the final episode of that TV masterpiece The Leftovers, about how she travelled to the other Earth where her family were happy and safe but returned without introducing herself to them. This was intended as ambiguous, wisely, in the series and I hope Tabor saw this because it absolutely and thematically feels like a shadow of her central idea here. It’s not really a horror novel, and is incredibly sad in places, but really feels like a spiritual precursor to something like The Double Life of Veronique. It’s a completely fascinating book and for the most part crackles with a sort of energy you don’t often stumble across. I hope it gets a second life and I hope her other books are this great
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2025
More a 3.75, rounded up. It’s a fabulous premise and the first half is really fantastic. Think sliding doors meets twilight zone (the latter aptly referenced on the jacket). But where it fails is in the main character’s journey. Her emotional trajectory simply wasn’t believable for someone experiencing that level of loss. The constant reference to “a year and a day” as how long the grief journey takes was taken literally by the author. And folks who’ve been through that know that’s not even remotely true. I also found some of the dialogue forced, and felt like it could have used the protagonist’s POV for the whole thing rather than using Face at all. I know that seems like a lot of critiques for a four star book, but I still enjoyed it and was invested! I just felt like it could have been much more!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews