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A Helping Hand
'In the past months Mrs Fingal’s legs had grown very weak. She could move from the bed to the chair only if she held on to the furniture. ‘Be careful, dear,’ Mrs Evans would say, beating up the pillows and clearing away all the oddments hidden under them, ‘you don’t want to fall and break your leg.’'
This is a tale of ruthless greed, exploitation and suffocating, skin-crawling terror.
Middle-aged Josh and Maisie Evans lead a seemingly unremarkable life. When their elderly lodger Flo dies and leaves them her Estate, they head to Italy on holiday, to take in the sea air and let the sun soak into their bones. There they meet Mrs Fingal, a wealthy widow who lives unhappily with her grown-up niece. When Josh and Maisie bond with her over ice-cream and daily ambles, it’s only natural that they arrange for her to move in with them once home. It suits everyone.
For fans of Shirley Jackson, Roald Dahl and Muriel Spark, A Helping Hand is a sharp and nasty slice of darkness, and a reminder that beneath the suburban respectability of cups of tea and genteel chitchat another world lurks, and that the real horrors of this world can all too often be found behind discreet net curtains.
This is a tale of ruthless greed, exploitation and suffocating, skin-crawling terror.
Middle-aged Josh and Maisie Evans lead a seemingly unremarkable life. When their elderly lodger Flo dies and leaves them her Estate, they head to Italy on holiday, to take in the sea air and let the sun soak into their bones. There they meet Mrs Fingal, a wealthy widow who lives unhappily with her grown-up niece. When Josh and Maisie bond with her over ice-cream and daily ambles, it’s only natural that they arrange for her to move in with them once home. It suits everyone.
For fans of Shirley Jackson, Roald Dahl and Muriel Spark, A Helping Hand is a sharp and nasty slice of darkness, and a reminder that beneath the suburban respectability of cups of tea and genteel chitchat another world lurks, and that the real horrors of this world can all too often be found behind discreet net curtains.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
64 people are currently reading
3442 people want to read
About the author
Celia Dale
26 books34 followersNot 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)
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)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
March 5, 2023
Though first published in 1966, this reads as if it could have been released this year.
Dale shows what can be done with a crime novel, that it needn’t be bloody murder, bank heists, or kidnappings. She presents a suburban setting, seemingly ordinary and mundane, but the tension builds, the sense of unease is soon apparent, but it’s all done with subtlety.
It begins with the death of an old lady, apparently a peaceful death of old age. Former nurse Maisie Evans and her husband Josh who were the woman’s caretakers. They attend to the necessary legal obligations.
Soon after, they are on holiday in Italy, and encounter the disgruntled Lena Kemp and her aunt Cynthia Fingal. The Evans’s agree for Mrs Fingal to come and live with them, as a ‘paying guest’.
But it’s clear something isn’t right, so understated is Dale’s narrative.
For those who think they’ve seen everything the crime genre has to offer, this is an example of how it can keep rewarding.
There’s no bodies turning up. It’s bloodless in its entirety, yet quite chilling in its portrayal of the cruelties and interactions of everyday life.
And it’s got a super twist towards the end.
Dale shows what can be done with a crime novel, that it needn’t be bloody murder, bank heists, or kidnappings. She presents a suburban setting, seemingly ordinary and mundane, but the tension builds, the sense of unease is soon apparent, but it’s all done with subtlety.
It begins with the death of an old lady, apparently a peaceful death of old age. Former nurse Maisie Evans and her husband Josh who were the woman’s caretakers. They attend to the necessary legal obligations.
Soon after, they are on holiday in Italy, and encounter the disgruntled Lena Kemp and her aunt Cynthia Fingal. The Evans’s agree for Mrs Fingal to come and live with them, as a ‘paying guest’.
But it’s clear something isn’t right, so understated is Dale’s narrative.
For those who think they’ve seen everything the crime genre has to offer, this is an example of how it can keep rewarding.
There’s no bodies turning up. It’s bloodless in its entirety, yet quite chilling in its portrayal of the cruelties and interactions of everyday life.
And it’s got a super twist towards the end.
April 21, 2024
This was a surprise.
No, really, this was a surprise.
My wife picked this up recently and after reading it, she told me 'Hey, you have to read this!'.
So, I did.
Dale's writing is humorous on one-hand, but has an underlying creepiness to it. Line by line, you're entertained by the characters, the setting and the dialogue itself - - but there's that underlying creepiness. Even after finishing the book, you find yourself smiling, but also feeling uneasy with what you just read.
As this is labeled as horror, I would say this isn't the over-the-top horror you're used to. There's no knives, guns, axes or chainsaws involved. This is a psychological, subtle type of horror, but realistic and borderline prophetic. Without spoiling anything, the theme of this book is something that tends to happen quite often today as people are generally selfish by nature.
Thank you.
No, really, this was a surprise.
My wife picked this up recently and after reading it, she told me 'Hey, you have to read this!'.
So, I did.
Dale's writing is humorous on one-hand, but has an underlying creepiness to it. Line by line, you're entertained by the characters, the setting and the dialogue itself - - but there's that underlying creepiness. Even after finishing the book, you find yourself smiling, but also feeling uneasy with what you just read.
As this is labeled as horror, I would say this isn't the over-the-top horror you're used to. There's no knives, guns, axes or chainsaws involved. This is a psychological, subtle type of horror, but realistic and borderline prophetic. Without spoiling anything, the theme of this book is something that tends to happen quite often today as people are generally selfish by nature.
Thank you.
April 8, 2023
full post is here (absolutely NO spoilers):
http://www.crimesegments.com/2023/04/...
Valancourt Books has recently published new editions of two of Celia Dale's novels, A Dark Corner and this book, A Helping Hand. I read A Dark Corner some time ago and have plans to reread it soon, but A Helping Hand is completely new to me. As I discovered, even at less than two hundred pages it's worth taking your time on this one.
On the back cover there's a blurb from the Buffalo News that most perfectly describes A Helping Hand as "A little gem of a thriller ... evil most monstrous." It's a good thing that I am one of those readers who doesn't need to find something likeable with the characters in a book because with only one or two exceptions, the people involved in this story are absolutely vile. The author writes so vividly that at times I felt like I was right there in the house as an observer of the appalling wretchedness, and I had to stop reading every so often just to move out of the dark and back into the light because she is so good at creating a claustrophic atmosphere. While the usual elements of a standard crime story will not be found in this novel, what happens here certainly falls within the realm of the genre, and given that this book was written in the 1960s, it remains extremely pertinent in our contemporary world which makes what happens even more frightening. The one and only thing I found to be on the negative side is that right after a rather stunning twist the story comes to a quick, almost rushed ending which was a bit disappointing, but in the long run it's really more about the getting there, and overall the novel is a true gut puncher.
I can most certainly recommend this one, and my thanks to Valancourt for bringing it back into print. My advice: find a nice sunny spot for reading -- you'll certainly need it.
http://www.crimesegments.com/2023/04/...
Valancourt Books has recently published new editions of two of Celia Dale's novels, A Dark Corner and this book, A Helping Hand. I read A Dark Corner some time ago and have plans to reread it soon, but A Helping Hand is completely new to me. As I discovered, even at less than two hundred pages it's worth taking your time on this one.
On the back cover there's a blurb from the Buffalo News that most perfectly describes A Helping Hand as "A little gem of a thriller ... evil most monstrous." It's a good thing that I am one of those readers who doesn't need to find something likeable with the characters in a book because with only one or two exceptions, the people involved in this story are absolutely vile. The author writes so vividly that at times I felt like I was right there in the house as an observer of the appalling wretchedness, and I had to stop reading every so often just to move out of the dark and back into the light because she is so good at creating a claustrophic atmosphere. While the usual elements of a standard crime story will not be found in this novel, what happens here certainly falls within the realm of the genre, and given that this book was written in the 1960s, it remains extremely pertinent in our contemporary world which makes what happens even more frightening. The one and only thing I found to be on the negative side is that right after a rather stunning twist the story comes to a quick, almost rushed ending which was a bit disappointing, but in the long run it's really more about the getting there, and overall the novel is a true gut puncher.
I can most certainly recommend this one, and my thanks to Valancourt for bringing it back into print. My advice: find a nice sunny spot for reading -- you'll certainly need it.
October 20, 2022
There is something deeply unnerving about a crime novel featuring an ordinary domestic setting – the type of story where sinister activities take place behind the veil of net curtains in the privacy of the protagonist’s home. The English writer and book reviewer Celia Dale was clearly a master of this genre, especially if her 1966 novel A Helping Hand is anything to go by. It’s an icily compelling tale of greed and deception, stealthily executed amidst carefully orchestrated conversations and endless cups of tea. An absolute shoo-in for my end-of-year highlights, I devoured this brilliant, terrifying novel in my eagerness to reach the end.
Central to the novel are former nurse Maisie Evans and her husband Josh, a middle-aged couple living quiet lives in the heart of suburbia. As the story gets underway, we find the Evanses on holiday in Italy, ostensibly as a bit of a break following the death of Auntie Flo, whom the couple had been looking after in their home before the old lady’s death. With Maisie’s background in nursing, the couple like to offer ‘a helping hand’ here and there, acting as caretakers to people in need, especially those with no relatives or other support.
During their break, Maisie and Josh attach themselves to another pair of British holidaymakers – the elderly widow Cynthia Fingal and her rather selfish niece, Lena. Right from the very start, Dale hints at the Evanses’ true motivations for befriending these fellow Brits, with Maisie targeting Lena while Josh works his magic on Mrs F. With her beloved husband, Stanley, long deceased, Mrs Fingal has missed the little attentions of a male companion – a role that Josh is only too willing to pick up. So, while Maisie accompanies Lena on various shopping trips around town, Josh begins to charm Mrs Fingal, flattering her with the attentiveness and conversation she is eager to lap up.
As Maisie soon discovers, Lena feels she has been saddled with taking care of her aunt – a burden she so clearly resents as it prevents her from living a more exciting life. In truth, Lena is selfish, irritable and impatient – qualities that Maisie soon turns to her own advantage by listening to Lena’s woes. Moreover, Mrs Fingal is equally unhappy with Lena, viewing her as common, self-centred, and hard – a perception she duly shares with Josh.
‘…I can’t talk like this to Lena. She shuts me up. She can’t see outside herself, you see. And she’s common. There’s never any conversation, she hasn’t the patience to listen to anyone but herself.’ (p. 55)
One of the things Dale does so well here is to let the reader in on what the Evanses are up to, slowly but surely as the narrative unfolds. For instance, we see them sizing up Mrs Fingal’s situation, working out how much the old lady might be worth and establishing whether there are any other living relatives besides Lena. It really is quite calculated and cold…
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
Central to the novel are former nurse Maisie Evans and her husband Josh, a middle-aged couple living quiet lives in the heart of suburbia. As the story gets underway, we find the Evanses on holiday in Italy, ostensibly as a bit of a break following the death of Auntie Flo, whom the couple had been looking after in their home before the old lady’s death. With Maisie’s background in nursing, the couple like to offer ‘a helping hand’ here and there, acting as caretakers to people in need, especially those with no relatives or other support.
During their break, Maisie and Josh attach themselves to another pair of British holidaymakers – the elderly widow Cynthia Fingal and her rather selfish niece, Lena. Right from the very start, Dale hints at the Evanses’ true motivations for befriending these fellow Brits, with Maisie targeting Lena while Josh works his magic on Mrs F. With her beloved husband, Stanley, long deceased, Mrs Fingal has missed the little attentions of a male companion – a role that Josh is only too willing to pick up. So, while Maisie accompanies Lena on various shopping trips around town, Josh begins to charm Mrs Fingal, flattering her with the attentiveness and conversation she is eager to lap up.
As Maisie soon discovers, Lena feels she has been saddled with taking care of her aunt – a burden she so clearly resents as it prevents her from living a more exciting life. In truth, Lena is selfish, irritable and impatient – qualities that Maisie soon turns to her own advantage by listening to Lena’s woes. Moreover, Mrs Fingal is equally unhappy with Lena, viewing her as common, self-centred, and hard – a perception she duly shares with Josh.
‘…I can’t talk like this to Lena. She shuts me up. She can’t see outside herself, you see. And she’s common. There’s never any conversation, she hasn’t the patience to listen to anyone but herself.’ (p. 55)
One of the things Dale does so well here is to let the reader in on what the Evanses are up to, slowly but surely as the narrative unfolds. For instance, we see them sizing up Mrs Fingal’s situation, working out how much the old lady might be worth and establishing whether there are any other living relatives besides Lena. It really is quite calculated and cold…
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
September 24, 2022
I'm clearly on a suburban horror kick at the moment..
This was fun and very unputdownable. But maybe I've read too much of this sort of thing lately as I was definitely hoping for something darker.. obviously what's happening within the book is dark, but it's never exactly shocking, and I thought maybe it would just have a cracking ending to turn things around, but sadly not so much..
Fun, but not the best of the bunch.
This was fun and very unputdownable. But maybe I've read too much of this sort of thing lately as I was definitely hoping for something darker.. obviously what's happening within the book is dark, but it's never exactly shocking, and I thought maybe it would just have a cracking ending to turn things around, but sadly not so much..
Fun, but not the best of the bunch.
June 27, 2023
I wouldn't say this book is horror, its probably leans more into the psychological side. When this book was published it was probably classified as horror. It lightly touches on the neglect of the elderly, its more sad as this is reality for somepeople.
The book is written in the 60s and is obvious with the writing style and wording.
In the second chapter of the book there is a bit written in Italian and then towards the end of the book a few more conversations in Italian. I dont speek Italian so I found this frustrating as Id just skim the page.
The twist in the last 2 pages felt very rushed. Although the book had an inevitable outcome i still found it enjoyable.
The book is written in the 60s and is obvious with the writing style and wording.
In the second chapter of the book there is a bit written in Italian and then towards the end of the book a few more conversations in Italian. I dont speek Italian so I found this frustrating as Id just skim the page.
The twist in the last 2 pages felt very rushed. Although the book had an inevitable outcome i still found it enjoyable.
October 24, 2022
3.5* Hmm, I think comparing anything to Shirley Jackson sets a certain precedent, and whilst this was definitely similar in ways it didn’t quite deliver on the delicious sinister energy I was hoping for (though it was sinister but not quite with the same vibes!) However, I would like to read more from Dale, I definitely feel there is a certain mix of Jackson & P.D. James in her writing and next time I read any of her work I will go in with slightly different expectations.
Thank you to Daunt Publishing for sending me a copy of this one.
Thank you to Daunt Publishing for sending me a copy of this one.
November 18, 2025
This made me feel sickkkkkkk and SAD! Because the abuse was so subtle and the gaslighting was interesting to read but I felt so bad for the characters (not mr & mrs evans)
January 2, 2023
A Helping Hand by Celia Dale
Book 1/60 of 2023
This was NOT what I expected based on the cover and the fact I found it in the horror section of Waterstones. A very disappointing story where very little happened, redeemed slightly by a solid ending.
This book was like a half-assed attempt at Misery by Stephen King. Not a good time. Mad I spent money on this.
Book 1/60 of 2023
This was NOT what I expected based on the cover and the fact I found it in the horror section of Waterstones. A very disappointing story where very little happened, redeemed slightly by a solid ending.
This book was like a half-assed attempt at Misery by Stephen King. Not a good time. Mad I spent money on this.
Read
January 29, 2025That was fantastic! Definitely see the resemblance to Roald Dahl, but there's also some Elizabeth Taylor in there. Fine storytelling, shot through with keen observations of the human condition. A tale of manners propelled forward with suspense and twists. Kaistress! I loved it.
January 22, 2023
Rich, dark and at times funny, this book is a real thriller in the vein of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith and Muriel Spark.
The novel is on the surface a nasty little tale about an abusive and manipulative couple who take in elderly ladies who don't have family to rely on. But Dale is more nimble than that- woven into these pages is a critique of how we approach care.
The reader becomes complicit in the abuse, as Dale writes Cynthia, the victim, as a clingy, needy woman, who latches on to men and flirts.
Maisie and Josh, the abusers, are both deeply unlikable, but Maisie's hard and no-nonsense approach to care and nursing is recognizeable and at times even feels right.
Only Graziella, the innocent pregnant woman from Italy, can bring some light into this dingy, oppressively bland suburban setting. It's at times heavy handed, but it's not overwraught.
I don't think the style is anything too special, but it's good and it works and honestly, that's the most important thing.
There is a twist ending which made me guffaw!
The novel is on the surface a nasty little tale about an abusive and manipulative couple who take in elderly ladies who don't have family to rely on. But Dale is more nimble than that- woven into these pages is a critique of how we approach care.
The reader becomes complicit in the abuse, as Dale writes Cynthia, the victim, as a clingy, needy woman, who latches on to men and flirts.
Maisie and Josh, the abusers, are both deeply unlikable, but Maisie's hard and no-nonsense approach to care and nursing is recognizeable and at times even feels right.
Only Graziella, the innocent pregnant woman from Italy, can bring some light into this dingy, oppressively bland suburban setting. It's at times heavy handed, but it's not overwraught.
I don't think the style is anything too special, but it's good and it works and honestly, that's the most important thing.
There is a twist ending which made me guffaw!
March 19, 2023
Originally published in the 1960s "A Helping Hand" was recently reprinted by the publisher and I can see why, as this novel reads like it could have been written yesterday.
I really enjoyed the story that is on its face rather benign, following a middle aged English couple and their elderly house guest, but what at first seems ordinary turns quietly horrific as Celia Dale unmasks what is really going on in this quiet suburban home.
Grade-A sociopathy is on full display and the twist at the end really worked for me. This book is definitely uncomfortable to read, especially when you consider things like this probably play out in real life all the time, but it works as an important reminder to be thoughtful of the most vulnerable people in our society. 4/5 would recommend.
I really enjoyed the story that is on its face rather benign, following a middle aged English couple and their elderly house guest, but what at first seems ordinary turns quietly horrific as Celia Dale unmasks what is really going on in this quiet suburban home.
Grade-A sociopathy is on full display and the twist at the end really worked for me. This book is definitely uncomfortable to read, especially when you consider things like this probably play out in real life all the time, but it works as an important reminder to be thoughtful of the most vulnerable people in our society. 4/5 would recommend.
March 5, 2024
My judgement of this is harsher than it should be because I found it in the horror section of Waterstones and hence, assumed it would be a horror novel. It is not a horror novel. It is mildly Gothic .
February 5, 2024
Couldn’t stop picturing the Evanses as Mary and Giles from Gogglebox.
Excellent twist at the end however.
Excellent twist at the end however.
November 3, 2023
3.25⭐️
What an odd little story. Would have made a good episode of Tales of the Unexpected back in the day.
What an odd little story. Would have made a good episode of Tales of the Unexpected back in the day.
March 12, 2025
3.75 ⭐
👉Una mano tendida nos presenta a Maisie y Josh Evans, una pareja que se dedica a acoger a ancianas sin familia para cuidarlas en los años finales de su vida. La última anciana a la que tendieron una mano fue la “tía” Flo. Cuando esta muere, viajan a Italia de vacaciones y allí se encuentran con Cynthia Fingal, una mujer de casi ochenta años con pequeños achaques de salud y una sobrina política, Lena Kemp, que no la aguanta. Definitivamente, Cynthia es la próxima inquilina perfecta para los Evans.
👉Muchos lectores dicen que no encajarían esta novela bajo la etiqueta de horror, pero, personalmente, creo que se podría decir que "Una mano tendida" se mueve en el terreno del horror psicológico y que gran parte de este radica en la indefensión que denuncia y en lo real que tal denuncia resulta. Celia Dale publicó este libro en 1966, pero la situación de soledad e indefensión de los ancianos es igual en la actualidad.
Además, Maisie y Josh resultan aterradores en su frialdad: sin llegar a ser crueles de forma física van ejerciendo su dominio sobre Cynthia de una manera tan cruda, tan calculada, que da escalofríos saber que esa anciana ni tiene a quién pedir ayuda ni podría pedirla aunque tuviera a alguien.
👉En la edición que he leído, el prólogo de Jenn Ashworth de 2022 dice que ninguno de los personajes (a excepción una bondadosa joven que ofrece un necesario contrapunto) es agradable en esta novela y que ahí reside parte de su grandeza. Estoy de acuerdo, pero no absolutamente de acuerdo: para mí Cynthia es solo una anciana, que puede que sea quejica, pesada, anticuada y gruñona, pero es que está sola y no tiene a nadie con quien hablar ni a quien abrazar. Cynthia no puede ser juzgada, no merecer serlo.
👉El final puede resultar abrupto, aunque para mí es perfecto: no niego que pueda ser brusco, pero es tan poético que no puede ser mejor.
👉 Como punto negativo solo puedo señalar que, en algún momento, pese a sus pocas páginas, la historia puede hacerse un poco pesada; quizá como relato largo, en vez de como novela corta, hubiera sido más ágil, pero es un pero pequeño y personal.
👉Una mano tendida nos presenta a Maisie y Josh Evans, una pareja que se dedica a acoger a ancianas sin familia para cuidarlas en los años finales de su vida. La última anciana a la que tendieron una mano fue la “tía” Flo. Cuando esta muere, viajan a Italia de vacaciones y allí se encuentran con Cynthia Fingal, una mujer de casi ochenta años con pequeños achaques de salud y una sobrina política, Lena Kemp, que no la aguanta. Definitivamente, Cynthia es la próxima inquilina perfecta para los Evans.
👉Muchos lectores dicen que no encajarían esta novela bajo la etiqueta de horror, pero, personalmente, creo que se podría decir que "Una mano tendida" se mueve en el terreno del horror psicológico y que gran parte de este radica en la indefensión que denuncia y en lo real que tal denuncia resulta. Celia Dale publicó este libro en 1966, pero la situación de soledad e indefensión de los ancianos es igual en la actualidad.
Además, Maisie y Josh resultan aterradores en su frialdad: sin llegar a ser crueles de forma física van ejerciendo su dominio sobre Cynthia de una manera tan cruda, tan calculada, que da escalofríos saber que esa anciana ni tiene a quién pedir ayuda ni podría pedirla aunque tuviera a alguien.
👉En la edición que he leído, el prólogo de Jenn Ashworth de 2022 dice que ninguno de los personajes (a excepción una bondadosa joven que ofrece un necesario contrapunto) es agradable en esta novela y que ahí reside parte de su grandeza. Estoy de acuerdo, pero no absolutamente de acuerdo: para mí Cynthia es solo una anciana, que puede que sea quejica, pesada, anticuada y gruñona, pero es que está sola y no tiene a nadie con quien hablar ni a quien abrazar. Cynthia no puede ser juzgada, no merecer serlo.
👉El final puede resultar abrupto, aunque para mí es perfecto: no niego que pueda ser brusco, pero es tan poético que no puede ser mejor.
👉 Como punto negativo solo puedo señalar que, en algún momento, pese a sus pocas páginas, la historia puede hacerse un poco pesada; quizá como relato largo, en vez de como novela corta, hubiera sido más ágil, pero es un pero pequeño y personal.
October 27, 2022
while it’s very obvious this was written in the 60’s and some of the old british terms went right over my head, this story fully unnerved me.
it was just all too relatable and too common of things that happen to the elderly on a regular basis that i felt myself shocked at how people can behave
and that ending!
it was just all too relatable and too common of things that happen to the elderly on a regular basis that i felt myself shocked at how people can behave
and that ending!
March 19, 2023
Teacup horror at its finest, including the wildest plot twist I have read in a while.
As good today (if not better) as it was back in 1966.
A horror classic from the UK that belongs in the hall of Fame next to Stepford Wives and Rosemary’s Baby. Only this book is scarier. Because the plot of this book could happen in real life. Maybe it already has …
As good today (if not better) as it was back in 1966.
A horror classic from the UK that belongs in the hall of Fame next to Stepford Wives and Rosemary’s Baby. Only this book is scarier. Because the plot of this book could happen in real life. Maybe it already has …
April 4, 2024
Another horrible, horrible, incredible Celia Dale book. The creeping dread is unmatched. Stuck between wanting to read everything she’s ever written immediately (this is two in two weeks) and needing a breather from the sheer sinister gut feeling I get with something extra gentle 😅
January 4, 2023
A slow burn with a chilling end that made it 4-stars
September 11, 2023
a quiet, but persistently claustrophobic, suburban horror for fans of Netflix's I Care A Lot
October 18, 2023
can’t remember the last time the ending of a book made me cackle out loud!
August 31, 2023
The comparison to Shirley Jackson and Roald Dahl is spot on: a creepy suburban horror story, not about ghosts or anything supernatural, but about some cruel yet ordinary humans. Really enjoyed it. Might’ve worked even better as a short story though.
October 25, 2024
Ik vond dit echt zielig want het ging over een oma en die was verdrietig en dat kon ik echt niet aan 💔. Verder bijzonder boek en begreep ik het einde niet helemaal maar las wel snel door. Moet er niet aan denken dat dit soort dingen echt gebeuren!!!!!
November 22, 2022
Actually loved this, so quietly horrifying (n sometimes not so quietly). This sets you up with discomfort v early on and just does not let go.
May 24, 2025
a lot of fun, and
when retired I will adapt this into a stellar stage version for a local amdram
when retired I will adapt this into a stellar stage version for a local amdram
July 12, 2021
Nasty business behind net curtain suburbia...
Elder abuse, before the term was commonplace, seems to be Celia Dale's writing theme across her work. It is a frightening prospect and Dale realises how easily the seam of respectability can be played by fraudsters out for their own ends.
I found Sheep's Clothing a far better and more subtle novel and depiction of quiet crime but this novel delivers the groundwork.
Elder abuse, before the term was commonplace, seems to be Celia Dale's writing theme across her work. It is a frightening prospect and Dale realises how easily the seam of respectability can be played by fraudsters out for their own ends.
I found Sheep's Clothing a far better and more subtle novel and depiction of quiet crime but this novel delivers the groundwork.
September 29, 2024
Just a real harsh bummer of a book about a suburban couple committing elder abuse for profit in the 60s. Like Shirley Jackson but less mysterious or Roald Dahl but less witty. It was quite easy to read but you could see plot turns coming a mile off and a whole book of an old woman slowly becoming more fragile and neglected until she dies, is not a great way to spend your finite time on this earth reading.
September 25, 2022
Nasty, twisted slice of suburban horror; the horrors lurking beneath a veneer of average suburban living, the evils and subterfuge of marriage, the sickening creepiness of middle-aged men.
It was fine & as a person who has always found marriage and suburbia desperately freaky and sinister it should have been exactly my kind of book, but actually a lot of it was kind of boring
It was fine & as a person who has always found marriage and suburbia desperately freaky and sinister it should have been exactly my kind of book, but actually a lot of it was kind of boring
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