Celia Fremlin (1914–2009)
Autore di The Hours Before Dawn
Sull'Autore
Opere di Celia Fremlin
A Quiet Game 2 copie
Something Evil in the House 1 copia
Don't Tell Cissie [short story] 1 copia
The Betrayal [short fiction] 1 copia
Besettelse 1 copia
Don't Be Frightened 1 copia
Opere correlate
The Web She Weaves: An Anthology of Mystery and Suspense Stories by Women (1983) — Collaboratore — 52 copie
Ladies of the Gothics: Tales of Romance and Terror by the Gentle Sex (1975) — Collaboratore — 39 copie
Ellery Queen's headliners; 20 stories from Ellery Queen's mystery magazine. (1971) — Collaboratore — 15 copie
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Nome legale
- Fremlin, Celia Margaret
- Data di nascita
- 1914-06-20
- Data di morte
- 2009-06-16
- Sesso
- female
- Nazionalità
- UK
- Luogo di nascita
- Kingsbury, Middlesex, England, UK
- Luogo di morte
- Bournemouth, England
- Luogo di residenza
- London, England, UK
- Istruzione
- Berkhamstead School for Girls
Oxford University (Somerville College) - Attività lavorative
- interviewer (for Mass Observation)
novelist
short-story writer
mystery writer - Relazioni
- Minchin, Leslie (husband)
- Breve biografia
- The Times of London wrote in her obituary: "Celia Fremlin used to say that she wrote the sort of book she wanted to read, in which a mysterious threat hangs over someone and escalates chapter by chapter. . . Publishers sometimes treated her novels as mere precursors of the 'woman in jeopardy' genre. . . But Fremlin had an observant wit all her own, highly valued by her friends as well as her readers." Celia Fremlin was born in Kingsbury, now part of London. Her older brother, John H. Fremlin, later became a nuclear physicist. In 1942 she married Elia Goller, with whom she had three children; he died in 1968. In 1985, Celia married Leslie Minchin, a writer and translator. Her novel The Hours Before Dawn won the Edgar Award in 1960. Later in life she became known as an active advocate of voluntary euthanasia.
Utenti
Discussioni
Scary novel or story ('70's era) about a nanny in Name that Book (Febbraio 2017)
Recensioni
Louise is a midcentury British housewife struggling to deal with the sleepless nights caused by her baby's nighttime crying sessions. Needing additional income, she and her husband Mark decide to rent out the spare room to a teacher from the local girls' school. But Louise is worried by the new boarder's mysterious comings and goings, her apparent flirtation with Mark, and her excessive interest in their baby. Is Louise right to be suspicious, or is she merely losing her grip on reality from lack of sleep?
This book is a predecessor of the domestic thrillers with unreliable female narrators that are so popular today. It's very well-written and the suspense is handled adroitly and kept me turning the pages. Louise is a sympathetic character whose unreliability comes not from ulterior motives but simply from the amount of stress she is under. Because of the book's age, however, the thrills will probably seem pretty tame to thriller readers of today.
The reason to read this book today is not so much the plot but the harrowing description of Louise's life as a housewife and mother before the days of labor-saving machines like dishwashers and dryers and before the concept of shared parenting duties. Louise's husband screams at her to "Shut that baby up!" when their son's crying wakes him at night, and he thinks nothing of coming home unannounced in the middle of the day and demanding an appetizing cooked hot lunch that his wife is expected to provide, in addition to the lunch she gives their two daughters when they come home from school. Laundry is a task that takes days; the children are considered to be exclusively the wife's responsibility -- so much so that at one point on an outing, the husband gets annoyed and goes home, leaving his wife with the three children. And how does Louise react to this treatment? She feels sorry for him for having to put up with her subpar housewife skills. If you have ever wondered why a book like The Feminine Mystique was a necessary revelation for so many women in the 1960s, read this book and you'll get it.… (altro)
This book is a predecessor of the domestic thrillers with unreliable female narrators that are so popular today. It's very well-written and the suspense is handled adroitly and kept me turning the pages. Louise is a sympathetic character whose unreliability comes not from ulterior motives but simply from the amount of stress she is under. Because of the book's age, however, the thrills will probably seem pretty tame to thriller readers of today.
The reason to read this book today is not so much the plot but the harrowing description of Louise's life as a housewife and mother before the days of labor-saving machines like dishwashers and dryers and before the concept of shared parenting duties. Louise's husband screams at her to "Shut that baby up!" when their son's crying wakes him at night, and he thinks nothing of coming home unannounced in the middle of the day and demanding an appetizing cooked hot lunch that his wife is expected to provide, in addition to the lunch she gives their two daughters when they come home from school. Laundry is a task that takes days; the children are considered to be exclusively the wife's responsibility -- so much so that at one point on an outing, the husband gets annoyed and goes home, leaving his wife with the three children. And how does Louise react to this treatment? She feels sorry for him for having to put up with her subpar housewife skills. If you have ever wondered why a book like The Feminine Mystique was a necessary revelation for so many women in the 1960s, read this book and you'll get it.… (altro)
charming ghostly stories, this little book is a perfect Christmas stocking stuffer
The claustrophobic interior monologue coupled with the slow reveal of the past, contrast with the immediate successful reinvention and reestablishment of a Self.
Fremlin takes a very simple premise, finding the potential of horror in domesticity, and invites - no, locks - her readers in it. We are sucked into this relentless whirlpool of fear and power and control, with little respite.
Fremlin gave herself an impossible task here, there is no satisfying way of wrapping up this story. However, since I choose to read the horror into the ending, it gives me a pervasive thrill. Everyone's a horrible hypocrite!… (altro)
Fremlin takes a very simple premise, finding the potential of horror in domesticity, and invites - no, locks - her readers in it. We are sucked into this relentless whirlpool of fear and power and control, with little respite.
Fremlin gave herself an impossible task here, there is no satisfying way of wrapping up this story. However, since I choose to read the horror into the ending, it gives me a pervasive thrill. Everyone's a horrible hypocrite!… (altro)
Liste
Edgar Award (1)
Premi e riconoscimenti
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Autori correlati
Statistiche
- Opere
- 30
- Opere correlate
- 35
- Utenti
- 900
- Popolarità
- #28,477
- Voto
- 3.7
- Recensioni
- 23
- ISBN
- 141
- Lingue
- 6
- Preferito da
- 1
Fremlin is so good at blending the cosiness of home with the ratcheting tension of outside forces threatening to disrupt it. She is also strangely great at capturing the voice of a precocious preteen boy, and the feeling of youthful ambitions and rebellions. The ending ties up a little too neatly for the realism that the story had been presenting, but given the story, I'm not sure there could have been another more satisfying ending.
Aside: real jarring to see the n-word make a few appearances here. They're supposedly spoken by the neighbourhood black kids, but they sure didn't add anything to the story nor characterisations!… (altro)