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Egerton Hall #3
Pictures of the Night
In a tale that mirrors "Snow White," eighteen-year-old Bella is leading a carefree bohemian lifestyle the summer before college, living and singing with a band in London and Paris. But over the course of a few weeks, she finds herself in danger more than once--and she can't help but suspect the two mysterious women who remind her of her jealous stepmother, Marjorie.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
1 person is currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Adèle Geras
157 books137 followersAdèle Geras FRSL (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.
(from Wikipedia)
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 21, 2018
Throughout the trilogy, Bella was the only character with any substance. But unfortunately, Adèle Geras didn't give her a great story to tell.
As with The Tower Room and Watching the Roses, the plot relies heavily on romance, but is completely unromantic. No one (or at least I don't) likes instalove. The writing itself was also rushed or else convoluted with no in between. And don't get me started on the pacing.
Undeniably, this was the most faithful to the original fairy tale. It was pretty accurate to Snow White, even down to the death-by-corset-and-poison-comb. The plot had a lot of potential, but there was no closure. That ending, though. What the heck was that? There were some convenient interventions and plot holes (cop-outs, really) but it was otherwise just loose ends. It felt like Geras was just dying to get this over and done with.
A pretty rubbish ending to a less than mediocre trilogy.
As with The Tower Room and Watching the Roses, the plot relies heavily on romance, but is completely unromantic. No one (or at least I don't) likes instalove. The writing itself was also rushed or else convoluted with no in between. And don't get me started on the pacing.
Undeniably, this was the most faithful to the original fairy tale. It was pretty accurate to Snow White, even down to the death-by-corset-and-poison-comb. The plot had a lot of potential, but there was no closure. That ending, though. What the heck was that? There were some convenient interventions and plot holes (cop-outs, really) but it was otherwise just loose ends. It felt like Geras was just dying to get this over and done with.
A pretty rubbish ending to a less than mediocre trilogy.
January 21, 2026
I’ve always been a fan of reimagined old fables into modern stories I guess that was the appeal of the book when i decided to buy it, it was a quick read to say the least, you could call it a fun read but there were a lot of instances where I thought the book fell short, let’s start with the positives of course I liked how Bella’s early life was portrayed, the way we experienced her relationship with her father and how the entry of the stepmother in her life affected her, i especially liked how they don’t just make the stepmother evil right away, she initially has affection for Bella and they seem to be getting along wonderfully, she teaches her manners, the way a lady should act how to dress and Bella admires her. But as soon as she starts growing up her stepmother starts see the her as competition a rival which mirrors the original fairy tale but soon after the book started to disappoint me. It first started with how they handled Alice’s sexual assault they never explore this further we just know she was institutionalized and she’s latter “better”, the portrayal feels unrealistic and minimises the impact of such heavy trauma , including such a heavy subject without any emotional depth feels irresponsible it would have been better to exclude it entirely than to reduce to a simple plot device.Sexual abuse is not something to be taken lightly. It marks people for life.
The second part of the book feels rushed we are jumping from one point to another too quickly it seems like instead of the reader experiencing the story we are getting a summary of the story which made it hard for me to get attached to the characters or to the story, despite the book portraying Bella as this sensible smart character and her going trough life changing events she doesn’t grow as a character, I’d say her character becomes more immature as the story goes on she seems more superficial and shallow and very hard to sympathise with. The way she handles the argument with her stepmother made me symptayse more with the antagonist than with her.
There’s also a lot of loose strands left at the end of the story it seems as though the writer tries to make her relationship with Greg vanish quickly to make room for this Mark character we met one time and who apparently Bella loves despite her not knowing him at all, they literally exchanged two sentences. The latter part feels rushed filled with plot holes and the ending was vague. I was disappointed to say the least.Though to keep in mind I didn’t read the trilogy, nor do I want too, only this book.
The second part of the book feels rushed we are jumping from one point to another too quickly it seems like instead of the reader experiencing the story we are getting a summary of the story which made it hard for me to get attached to the characters or to the story, despite the book portraying Bella as this sensible smart character and her going trough life changing events she doesn’t grow as a character, I’d say her character becomes more immature as the story goes on she seems more superficial and shallow and very hard to sympathise with. The way she handles the argument with her stepmother made me symptayse more with the antagonist than with her.
There’s also a lot of loose strands left at the end of the story it seems as though the writer tries to make her relationship with Greg vanish quickly to make room for this Mark character we met one time and who apparently Bella loves despite her not knowing him at all, they literally exchanged two sentences. The latter part feels rushed filled with plot holes and the ending was vague. I was disappointed to say the least.Though to keep in mind I didn’t read the trilogy, nor do I want too, only this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2024
The motifs of the Grimms’ “Snow White” was extremely fun and exciting, but I didn’t love the book. I think I would’ve liked this if I was younger, but everything to me was immature and a bit out of nowhere. Also the story ended rather fast and unexpectedly. I am left with a lot of questions…
January 19, 2022
What an aweful book! So boring. There wasn't much of a story to tell. The MC Bella seemed okay in the other 2 Egerton Hall books but in the book meant to tell her story, she was flat and boring and came of as shallow and selfish. And the love story in all 3 books is unbelievably lame. Megan in the first book falls in love with a lab assistant after exchanging a glance with him. Thereafter he climbs to her tower room to see her in secrecy and can't keep his hands off her. In fact he struck me as a pervert who was only after her for one thing. Then Alice falls for a French boy whom she spent a few minutes talking to. However, this one made more sense in that they had time to build up to a relationship in their letter writing. Bella is the worst one. She sees some guy standing in a hall and exchanged like 3 lines with him and 3 minutes later, she's madly in love with him. This so called love is not convincing and is immature. You have to wonder if the author understands what true love really is.
October 4, 2009
I just read this book in an evening of sleeplessness. This book is a modernish take on the fairy tale Snow White. Since I was a child, I have been a fan of fairy tales. Even now, I prefer my reads to have justice for the bad guys and 'happily ever after' for the good ones. I really enjoyed this book's parallels with the traditional fairy tale. That is, until the end. I really felt like the end of the book was over so quickly and with so many loose strings that it lost its fairy tale charm. I would have easily given this book a high rating if the ending had lived up to the rest of the book.
June 7, 2011
This teen retelling of Snow White is part of the Edgerton Hall series, which I am ever-so-brilliantly reading in reverse order. That'll teach me to be cavalier about my series. Anyway, it goes about the whole fairy tale thing in a pretty smart way, I thought. You can definitely see the fairy tale in the story, but it doesn't feel like it's driving the new story in an artificial way for the most part. Bella's not always super likeable (she's vain and a little bit thoughtless when it comes to other people's feelings), but for me the biggest failing was her relationship with her "wicked stepmother."
This was the portion of the book that most resembled its fairy tale counterpart, and it was also where the author stumbled. Much is made, over and over again, about how evil her stepmother is. We are led to believe, or at least suspect, that the stepmother is trying to kill Bella in all the usual ways (suffocating belt, poisoned comb, apple). But then, right at the end where the stepmother makes her big move, giving Bella unidentified pills and alcohol (which Bella accepts, no less), and causing her to nearly die at a nightclub performance....
That's right. Nothing. No other mention. Bella is saved by her prince charming, who she met for a grand total of 60 seconds once and is now following to another country, and that's all. I guess the stepmother's comeuppance is that she was wearing uncomfortable shoes at the time. She's not called out on her possible murder attempt, she's not exposed in any way. The end. It was a weak and rushed ending to what was otherwise a fairly clever retelling, and brought my review from a tentative 4 stars to a solid 3. We'll see what she does with sleeping beauty in book #2. (Reading backwards, remember?)
This was the portion of the book that most resembled its fairy tale counterpart, and it was also where the author stumbled. Much is made, over and over again, about how evil her stepmother is. We are led to believe, or at least suspect, that the stepmother is trying to kill Bella in all the usual ways (suffocating belt, poisoned comb, apple). But then, right at the end where the stepmother makes her big move, giving Bella unidentified pills and alcohol (which Bella accepts, no less), and causing her to nearly die at a nightclub performance....
That's right. Nothing. No other mention. Bella is saved by her prince charming, who she met for a grand total of 60 seconds once and is now following to another country, and that's all. I guess the stepmother's comeuppance is that she was wearing uncomfortable shoes at the time. She's not called out on her possible murder attempt, she's not exposed in any way. The end. It was a weak and rushed ending to what was otherwise a fairly clever retelling, and brought my review from a tentative 4 stars to a solid 3. We'll see what she does with sleeping beauty in book #2. (Reading backwards, remember?)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2009
"Pictures of the Night" was my favorite of the Egerton Hall series, probably because Bella, the heroine, is the most interesting of the three Egerton classmates. Snow White has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, so that might have helped a little, too, since that's the story being retold in this installment.
Believe it or not, there is love at first sight up in here, and it's the most obnoxious lovestruckness in all three books. It's a little understandable, I mean, AT LEAST half the time in fairy tales, the prince/white-knight hero is an unknown entity, but it's still irritating.
All three stories are neatly wrapped up in "Pictures of the Night," so it was a pretty satisfactory finale. Nothing unexpected, very predictable, but not in a bad way. DEFINITELY a series that is written for the age group it's advertised for -- I probably should have read these in fifth or sixth grade, although there is some sexuality in the series as a whole that my parents wouldn't have been down with. It's not explicit, but it is there: these are fairy tales, after all.
The writing is actually pretty good, Geras writes a compelling story and captures the feel of her boarding-school setting very well. Just don't go in expecting mind-blowing, standards-rearranging storytelling, and you'll be okay.
Believe it or not, there is love at first sight up in here, and it's the most obnoxious lovestruckness in all three books. It's a little understandable, I mean, AT LEAST half the time in fairy tales, the prince/white-knight hero is an unknown entity, but it's still irritating.
All three stories are neatly wrapped up in "Pictures of the Night," so it was a pretty satisfactory finale. Nothing unexpected, very predictable, but not in a bad way. DEFINITELY a series that is written for the age group it's advertised for -- I probably should have read these in fifth or sixth grade, although there is some sexuality in the series as a whole that my parents wouldn't have been down with. It's not explicit, but it is there: these are fairy tales, after all.
The writing is actually pretty good, Geras writes a compelling story and captures the feel of her boarding-school setting very well. Just don't go in expecting mind-blowing, standards-rearranging storytelling, and you'll be okay.
April 13, 2012
Lovely "Snow White" retelling that sadly ended rather abruptly and oddly. I felt like even two more pages could have wrapped this story up significantly better. I also have to say that the love story aspect of this one was pretty terrible (a very love-at-first-sight, I don't know you at all but love you instantly kind of thing which drives me a bit batty.) There were a lot of good things too though and overall I really enjoyed it... the dark bohemian aesthetic is my thing for sure and there were several clever moments of fairy tale reworking that I liked a lot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2009
Thankfully it was a short book. Worst retelling of snow white I've read. Didn't care for the main character, she seemed very selfish and slightly stoned throughout the book. The wicked stepmother never go what was due and the ending was anticlimactic and hurried. I haven't read the previous two books, perhaps if I did I'd like the characters better
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2011
I just couldn't get into this book. Right from the start, it seemed like the author was trying to hide something from the reader and that annoyed me. Also, it contained too many long descriptions. Not my type of book.
March 12, 2008
Modern version of a classic fairytale.
February 28, 2010
the snow white installment. i enjoyed it but the ending was too rushed.
April 2, 2010
A very racy read.
January 11, 2011
Snow White's story and my favorite (that's saying a lot) of the three. Very faithful to the original fairy tale.
December 26, 2011
Not my favorite retelling of Snow White, though it was enjoyable.
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July 20, 2014Retelling of Snow White.
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July 20, 2014Based on Snow White.
January 16, 2018
The whole love-at-first-sight thing was a bit much and would have preferred it if Bella had...come to love Greg? I liked his character and I liked her singing with the band and her time at the World's End house. Until the last couple of pages, I immensely enjoyed the dark, Bohemian feel. The ending seemed too open ended with no real closure for the story.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews