Rating: 
Summary: A Rendell Fan
Review: I have read several books by Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine) and have enjoyed most of them. This was pretty good too, other than the fact that I felt she began to drone on towards the end, and I was getting bored. The story, though, is good. It begins with the morning that Vera Hillyard is hanged for murder, we don't know who's or what happened. From there we start back years before as Vera's niece tries to remember what led up to the murder so an author can write a book about it. Vera is a strange woman who adores her younger sister Eden and basically raises her after their parents die. The niece comes to visit occasionally to escape the war and finds Vera to be rather hard to get along with. Vera is married and has a son, but her husband is always away in the war and her son, Frances, despises Vera for sending him away to boarding school as a youngster and does his best to make her life miserable. Throughout all of this, though, Vera still longs for another child which she eventually has, named Jamie. It is kind of a mystery too, who the father of this boy is, which adds to the suspense. The author hints at the fact that 2 children died mysteriously while Vera is near, though never comes out and says she was involved, so among all these people it isn't clear who she murdered until the story is over half finished. Barbara Vine has written a unique story, unlike any other I have read, kind of a backwards mystery where the reader knows the criminal and the crime but not who was killed or why. Like I said before, it did tend to drag on longer than necessary, but for anyone who likes a little different spin on a mystery, suspense type novel, this is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Fun with Families
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The characters felt very real, and I felt better about my family after reading about this one. Always a plus. My only complaint is that it would have been fantastic if a family tree had been included. I made one and it definitely helped. Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine is a master.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific mystery
Review: I think this was my first Barbara Vine book and what a treat. Truthfully the first chapter was a bit hard to follow, Vine sort of throws you into the family history without much preparation but it gets sorted out soon. I couldn't put this book down, it was totally absorbing. So beautifully written it reads more like a memoir than a novel. Really original story.
Rating: 
Summary: Who cares?
Review: I was disappointed in the work. Rendell's writing style is wonderful, her vocabulary artful. The problem was that I was not made to care about any of the characters--just superficial snapshots of way too many people to keep track of. The author described and gave detailed background information on at least 20 people who were never again involved in the story. When I finally struggled to the end, the thought I had was, "Who cares?"
Rating:
Summary: Who cares?
Review: I was disappointed in the work. Rendell's writing style is wonderful, her vocabulary artful. The problem was that I was not made to care about any of the characters--just superficial snapshots of way too many people to keep track of. The author described and gave detailed background information on at least 20 people who were never again involved in the story. When I finally struggled to the end, the thought I had was, "Who cares?"
Rating:
Summary: The best book of a top-notch author.
Review: If not for sexism and genre-snobbery, Ruth Rendell, alias Barbara Vine, would be recognized as one of the greatest living writers, and this book is her masterpiece. Vera Hillyard undoubtedly committed a murder and was duly hanged for it. More than thirty years later, Daniel Stewart, a writer researching a "re-examination" of the case, approaches Vera's niece, Faith. In helping Stewart, Faith is drawn back into the past. It is Faith who has the "dark-adapted eye" and can see murky things in the past (both about society and about her own family) that her modern-day grown children can't begin to comprehend. The book is replete with symbolism and secrets: secrets springing from the repressed sexual mores of the forties and fifties, touching on homosexuality, illegitimacy, adultery, and supposedly virgin brides. The richness and complexity of the narrative, the bell-ringing realness of the emotions described, and the capture in amber of mid-twentieth century attitudes, make this a book to read over and over, and to recommend to everyone you know.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting read
Review: If one wants an example of a book to "read," then look at "Dark Adapted Eye." Like any good story, it can be told in three sentences. It is HOW it is told that makes the book worth reading. The multi-faceted novel seduces the reader into carrying the book everyplace, so as not to miss an opportunity to read it. We know who did it, and how she did it; as the book progresses we learn why...and although we might figure out the 'why,' our discernment is immaterial, for the book is so well crafted that every word is like a morsel of food that is a delight to the palate. Read it to know what reading is about.
Rating:
Summary: Good pyschological thriller
Review: If you want a book, where it's a puzzle to find out "whodunnit", then this isn't for you.Very quickly (within the first 10 pages) you know who is going to be killed by who. The rest of the novel covers the years leading up to that time. It's a fascinating character study, and a slice of life in 1940s England. The characters in the book are forever concealing their motivations, sins, and passions from society as a whole. The narrator struggles to understand her family members, and what caused the murder to take place. In the end, you will also see that there is a mystery that is left hanging for the reader. Not the one that was revealed on page 10. However, there is another assumption in the book, that you find is not valid, and the solution is never laid out. This book is slow, as some reviewers have mentioned. The first 50 pages or so take awhile to get moving. I advise you to stick with it, as these characters aren't as one-dimensional as they might originally seem.
Rating:
Summary: A Dark Adaptive Eye
Review: My first time viewing a video with a story by Ruth Rendell. I am not going to go into detail about the literary aspects of the story, but more about my opinion of the characters. I see on the website that Vera is discussed as a very controlling, strange and domineering woman.She seems pretty tame to me. In my opinion, Vera is quilty of nothing more than having an eccentric personality, but so what! If anyone is quilty of madness, it is her sister Eden and her son Francis. It is apparent that these two bad seeds were out to push poor old Vera over the edge. Also, I believe throughout this entire story, that Vera is,in a way, the victim of circumstance. It is apparent to me that the March baby she is accused of killing was not killed by her, but by Mr. March. The only murder Vera is guilty of is her sisters, and I couldn't blame her for killing her. Eden drove Vera to madness. So vera didn't have lots of money and she was a bit eccentric. She gave the baby what he needed most...love and affection, which is something Eden wasn't capable of doing!! Personally, I do not feel Vera should have been hanged. The murder had not been premeditated. It was a crime of passion and temporary insanity brought on by none other than the emotionally impotent Eden. And another thing, what about that niece of Vera's. Faith knew what Eden was out to do. Both Faith and her husband knew what Eden was doing was wrong, they should have done something about it. Some how I feel this murder and hanging could have been avoided, if Faith had gotten envolved. And where was Vera's brother John in all of this? Why didn't he get envolved!!? Ultimately though, Vera should not have been hanged, given the circumstances. If there was an injustice, it was against poor Vera. Sorry for typos, can't figure out how to use my spelling checker here.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: Of all the Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine novels this is my absolute favorite. This book has it all--an intricate plot, sympathetic characters, an ironic twist at the end. Plus this book is written in a superb style. Mysteries don't get any better than this one.
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