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Summary: One of my very favorite books ever!
Review: Okay, I admit it, I'm a big Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell fan, but aside from that, this is my very favorite of all her books. I don't know where to start - just read it! It's absolutely amazing - the characters are complex and intriquing. Just wonderfully wonderfully written.
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Summary: Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine has never written a better book.
Review: Since her first novel, A DARK-ADAPTED EYE, Barbara Vine has written several superb psychological thrillers. A FATAL INVERSION, THE HOUSE OF STAIRS, ANNA'S BOOK, and THE BRIMSTONE WEDDING in particular are exceptional suspense novels. But not one of them comes even close to A DARK-ADAPTED EYE which, after more than a decade, is still the best Rendell/Vine novel to date.What drove Vera Hillyard to brutally murder her younger sister Eden? The answer turns out to be far more complex than the question. Wryly narrated by their niece, Faith Severn, this flat-out brilliant story brings to light a hidden world of love, lust, greed, and pain. Vine's characters aren't just well-developed; they are completely real and totally convincing. What distinguishes A DARK-ADAPTED EYE from Rendell/Vine's other novels is that aside from the usual intricate plotting and realistic sense of place, the conclusion is gut-wrenchingly emotional. As the inevitable tragedy approaches, the suspense escalates to a fevered pitch, and the final climax manages to be riveting and deeply moving. More than any of her other books, A DARK-ADAPTED EYE shows that the mystery genre is not at all inferior to serious fiction; on the contrary, the mystery genre at its best delivers the best that the literary world can offer.
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Summary: wonderful plot, but kind of unfinshed
Review: The book was great, and definitely deserves acclaim. I don't think I've read an inverted mystery better than this. However, the plot begins thick and eventually just thins out. The book was great, but was kind of unfinished.
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Summary: Ruth Rendell is a master
Review: The plot of this book is too complex to be revealed. But once you have finished reading this novel, you'll wonder at how anyone could have pulled it off. And Ruth Rendell does, beautifully. I love Ruth Rendell. She is irreplaceable. Even her weakest novels are worth reading, and when she's on. . .well, there's nobody who can compare. This book is one of her strangest and most perfectly written. I read it years ago, and haven't forgotten one detail. Read this book and be amazed at the spell a writer can cast!
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Summary: This one will go down as a classic!
Review: This is a brilliant book and Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) is a brilliant writer. The plot is too intricate to discuss here without giving anything away - all I can say is read it!
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Summary: A marvelous mystery
Review: This is one of the most sophisticated mysteries in years, and intitated a whole series of superior psychological novels from Ruth Rendell under the nom de plume Barbara Vine. The work begins with the sensational headline-grabbing state hanging of Vera Hillyard; the rest of the work is preoccupied with why she was executed and whom she murdered. Although Vera's victim becomes apparent earlier than halfway through the book, the whys of murder are much more intriguing: indeed, the novel purposefully begins with a knotted web of familial Hillyard relations for the reader to enjoy sorting through until it all makes sense. The tale Vine has to relate is a complex one, extraordinarily deftly told: one has only to see the well-meant expensive botch made of it on British television to see how extraordinarily subtle Vine's art is here. The sense of wartime and postwar atmosphere is marvelously evoked, and the particular attention given here to WWII makeup and glamor (a favorite preoccupation of Barbara Vine's) is an especially intriguing and enjoyable detail.
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Summary: A Brillant Rendell /Vine Mystery
Review: This is perhaps my favorite, although that is so hard to decide, of Rendell's Vine persona. This plot unravels so mysteriously that it is hard, even at the end, to be sure what you believe. Perhaps Rendell's ultimate skill is to accurately reflect the complexity and ambiguity of human relationships and this book shows off her ability to the max.
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Summary: A Brillant Rendell /Vine Mystery
Review: This is perhaps my favorite, although that is so hard to decide, of Rendell's Vine persona. This plot unravels so mysteriously that it is hard, even at the end, to be sure what you believe. Perhaps Rendell's ultimate skill is to accurately reflect the complexity and ambiguity of human relationships and this book shows off her ability to the max.
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Summary: Best of the best
Review: This lady is a fantastic writer on all levels -- plot, characterization, structure, theme and you name it. She is a true master of the art of literature, and this is the best of all her books. Ruth Rendell, her alter ego, is okay, but Barbara Vine is tops! Buy this book and I guarantee you'll read it rapidly and then buy all the rest.
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